Haryanti Puspa Sari, Jessi Carina, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) rejects the proposal by National Economic Council (DEN) Chairperson Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to exclude state losses from the definition of corruption.
ICW researcher Wana Alamsyah said that if the element of state losses were removed from the definition of corruption, the number of corruption cases would appear to decrease due to the interests of those in power.
"If the article on state losses is removed, we can project that corruption will decrease drastically in the future. This is not because there is no corruption, but because laws are regulated for the benefit of those in power, making it appear that Indonesia is free from corruption, when in fact it is not", Alamsyah said when contacted by Kompas.com on Wednesday October 21.
Alamsyah said that, based on ICW's records regarding corruption sentences in 2024, 83 percent of defendants were sentenced using the articles on state losses stipulated in Articles 2 and 3 of the Corruption Law (UU Tipikor).
Therefore, he said, if President Prabowo Subianto approves the proposal, it would be tantamount to supporting the undermining of corruption eradication efforts.
"Instead of improving the integrity of law enforcement, the government is taking shortcuts by changing the law", he said.
Alamsyah also asked Pandjaitan not to arbitrarily adopt the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
He said that the UNCAC still contains many norms that have not been integrated with Indonesian law, such as asset confiscation, the improper increase in wealth of public officials, trading in influence, private sector corruption and bribery of foreign officials.
"Instead of focusing on state losses, the government should focus on how far behind the implementation of the UNCAC is", he said.
Earlier, Pandjaitan proposed to Prabowo that state losses not be part of the definition of corruption. This was based on a DEN study that referred to the UNCAC, which Indonesia ratified through Law Number 7/2006.
"Yes we referred to the UN Charter regarding the definition of corruption. The definition of corruption in the UN Charter which was ratified by Indonesia 20 years ago is bribery. So we're not talking about state losses", Pandjaitan said at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"Earlier the President also agreed with the study conducted by the National Economic Council team regarding the definition of corruption. Therefore, it is important to ensure that corruption handling in Indonesia meets international standards", he explained.
According to Pandjaitan, Indonesia has so far been the only country that defines state losses as corruption.
"Because Indonesia is the only country that implements the issue of state losses and indeed this a burden for [businesses] like [the sovereign wealth fund] Danantara to do business when of course every single business carries risks", he said.
On the same occasion, Panjaitan also reported a number of data items to the President. He hopes that in the future, every decision-making process will be data-based.
"We earlier, I reported to the President last time, we will feed the President with accurate data so that the President's decision-making process will be based heavily on data. Because with this data, I think the decision-making process will be much more accurate", he said.
Therefore, the DEN also said that it will be more intensive in providing data to President Prabowo. "This way, given the current global economic situation, the President will be updated with truly up-to-date data", he continued.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "ICW Tolak Usulan Luhut soal Kerugian Negara: Jika Dihapus, Indonesia Seolah Bersih dari Korupsi".]
