PDIP Chair Criticises KPK's Prevention Strategy After Back-to-Back OTTs of Kuansing and Langkat Regents
A member of the House of Representatives Commission II and Chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Deddy Sitorus, has highlighted the consecutive arrests of the regents of Langkat and Kuantan Singingi (Kuansing) in KPK sting operations. Deddy criticised the KPK’s corruption prevention performance. “The prevalence of sting operations shows me how weak the KPK is in terms of corruption prevention, so that law enforcement is mostly carried out through sting operations. In my opinion, this is a structural and systemic weakness in the KPK’s efforts to eradicate corruption,” Deddy told reporters on Sunday (5/7/2026).
Deddy said the KPK must address the problem of corruption from the upstream level. If not, he said, sting operations will continue. “If this continues, it is no wonder that corruption will continue to occur and the drama of sting operations will continue without fundamental improvement. Corruption cases involving regional heads are often related to several activities: one, procurement processes; two, granting permits; three, job transfers; four, levies/contributions from regional apparatus organisations (OPD)/agencies; five, operational/social assistance funds,” he said.
Nevertheless, he mentioned that the mentality of government apparatuses must also be improved. He said meritocracy must be the basis of the Indonesian bureaucracy. “But on the other hand, the mentality of our apparatus also needs significant improvement so that they are not vulnerable to politicisation and do not like taking shortcuts for positions and ranks. The mechanism for ranks and positions must be truly credible, accountable, open, and fair. Besides skills, competence, KPIs, and professionalism, the mental aspect must also be thoroughly tested through comprehensive psycho-tests,” he said.
Deddy asked the KPK and other law enforcement officials to focus on the upstream problems and not just on downstream actions through sting operations. He said law enforcement officials must conduct regular audits and supervision. “In my opinion, the KPK and law enforcement officials must focus on the upstream problems and not just on downstream actions through sting operations. For example, in procurement matters, it is better to use a digital system/e-procurement/credible vendor list mechanism that is supervised and audited periodically by an independent auditor. Procurement should be centralised at the provincial level under the supervision of the KPK,” said Deddy.
“In every permit granting process, there should be open stages and mechanisms that involve the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD). That way, the granting of permits is transparent and accountable,” he added. Deddy highlighted that job transfers should be centralised at the provincial level but not directly under the governor. In this way, he said, the job filling system could be of higher quality. “The same applies to job transfers, it is better to be centralised at the provincial level (but not under the authority of the Governor) where the regions only propose the selection results, but the determination is made transparently and accountably by a designated team that is not directly involved with the proposing region. That way, the merit system can be maintained and produce quality recruitment,” he said.
He said that levies by regional heads on subordinates could be minimised by opening a closed complaint system, providing protection and incentives to witnesses or whistleblowers. He hopes for continuous supervision of budget usage in the regions. “I hope the KPK can be truly serious about eradicating corruption structurally and systemically and not continue to rely on sting operations which have proven unable to reduce corruption for decades. The KPK cannot only rely on corruption prevention through seminars and technical guidance alone. But it must touch the root of the problem (radically) and comprehensively,” he added.
Previously, the KPK conducted a sting operation against Kuansing Regent Suhardiman Amby. It turned out that Suhardiman served as regent replacing the previous regent, Andi Putra, who was caught in a sting operation in October 2021. The KPK then conducted another sting operation. This time, Syah Afandin, the Regent of Langkat, was caught. This case is similar to Suhardiman’s case. Syah Afandin is the successor to the previous Langkat Regent who was also entangled in a corruption case, namely Terbit Rencana Perangin-angin. In 2022, Syah Afandin served as Acting Regent of Langkat after Terbit was arrested by the KPK.