PDIP Responds to Jokowi on KPK Law: Legislative Reform Must Be Objective, Not Erratic
PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) central board chairman Said Abdullah has stated that discussions on legislation in the House of Representatives (DPR) should not be driven by the preferences of those in power, responding to former President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) support for reverting the KPK Law to its original version.
“For me, this is not about what Abraham Samad has said, nor what the seventh President has said. When we talk about legislation, we are not talking about the tastes of those in power,” Said Abdullah said at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (19 February 2026).
Said argued that legislative deliberation should not follow the wishes of whoever holds power. He reminded all parties that what must be acknowledged is that Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index has indeed declined.
“When I’m in power, I change the law. When I’m no longer in power, I realise the law I changed was wrong, so let’s change it again.’ That’s not how it works. Let us recognise that our Corruption Perception Index has fallen to its nadir,” said the chairman of the DPR’s Budget Committee.
He stated that reforming any law must be done objectively. Said emphasised that every legislative revision must be thoroughly studied, rather than being subject to a tug-of-war between competing interests.
“Let us fix things together. Let us not jump from one point to another. Let us first complete the work on the Criminal Procedure Code bill that has already become law. After that, let us carefully consider the objective conditions,” Said Abdullah said.
“This is not about Abraham Samad, nor about Jokowi. It has nothing to do with any of them. This is a matter for the nation. The DPR must not engage in a tug-of-war merely for the interests of person A or person B. It must be studied thoroughly,” he added.
Said stated he did not wish to be drawn into debates over who was the “intellectual author” of the KPK Law ratified in 2019. He warned that pursuing such questions would divert the DPR from its proper role of prioritising the interests of the people.
“I don’t want to be trapped into discussing whether the intellectual author was Jokowi or anyone else — I have no concern with that. My concern is how we can have legislation that truly serves our needs,” Said said.
“If our debates consist of constantly taking shots at one another, then who exactly are we serving as members of the DPR? Surely we are not here to serve the intellectual author of this or that,” he added.
Said called for an end to the debate over who was behind the latest version of the KPK Law. He urged that the Indonesian public be presented with substantive deliberation instead.
“But the DPR went along with it? The DPR says no, that this actually originated from there. What is the point of debating this? It’s rubbish. The public gains nothing from it. Let’s stop pursuing things like that. Let us be substantive in our discussions,” he said.
Previously, former President Jokowi expressed his support for a proposal by former KPK chairman Abraham Samad to revert the KPK Law to its earlier version. Jokowi noted that the revised version of the law was initiated by the DPR.
“Yes, I agree, it would be good to return the KPK Law to the old version, because the revision was a DPR initiative. Make no mistake, it was a DPR initiative,” Jokowi said on Friday (13 February).
Jokowi acknowledged that the KPK Law was revised during his presidency at the DPR’s initiative. However, he stressed that he did not sign the revised law.