"The KPK team has been analyzing the bill on the second amendment of the Law on KPK that was passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) during its plenary meeting on September 17, 2019. We have identified 26 clauses in the KPK bill that can possibly weaken the KPK’s work," Febri Diansyah, the KPK spokesman, remarked here on Wednesday.
The 26 points of concern include the agency's independence being curtailed; a rule on the agency's leadership, as the highest authority, being deleted; and a supervisory board having greater authority than the KPK leader and will also encompass technical matters in case handling.
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The other issues are that the KPK will have to get approval for investigation and wiretaps, thereby undermining the agency; conducting red-handed arrests will become difficult for the anti-graft body owing to bureaucratic procedures; and necessitating KPK employees to be civil servants will eventually deprive it of its independence.
Regulatory changes can weak or also paralyze the KPK in conducting its corruption prevention and eradication tasks, as several of its fundamental authorities have been dropped.
"Hence, if some parties are saying that the revision of the KPK law is currently aimed at strengthening it, both from the prevention and persecution aspects, the 26 points above show that it is not true," he pointed out.
Furthermore, the articles in the revised law are not synchronized with one another and can give rise to multiple interpretations. Hence, it can hinder the KPK in fulfilling its future tasks.
"This is what we have said since the start. If the law deliberation process is more open, involves the public, seeks inputs from the concerned institutions, such as the KPK, and does not rush, then several problem risks could have been minimized," the agency's spokesman stated.
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Translator: Bernardy F, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
