Haryanti Puspa Sari, Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has criticised a statement by the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who said he supports the Corruption Eradication Commission Law (UU KPK) being revised again..
ICW's Legal and Investigation Division head Wana Alamsyah said that Widodo's statement seems paradoxical and an attempt to wash his hands of past mistakes, namely revising the KPK Law through Law Number 19/2019.
"The discourse on revising the KPK Law conveyed by the 7th president Joko Widodo is full of paradoxes and an attempt to wash his hands of past mistakes", Alamsyah said when contacted by reporters on Monday February 16.
This is because, said Alamsyah, Widodo was one of the biggest contributors to the weakening of the KPK through the KPK Law, which was revised very quickly taking only 13 days.
He said that there are two reasons why Widodo is considered to have contributed significantly to revising the KPK Law.
First, on September 11, 2019, he issued a Presidential Letter and delegated the Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) and the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (Menpan RB) to represent the executive branch to discuss the revisions to the KPK Law.
"Second, former President Jokowi did not issue a Perppu [Government Regulation in Lieu of Law to cancel the revised law] when there were massive protests [against the law] in September 2019. He had the right to do so", said Alamsyah.
Earlier, Widodo stated that he agreed with the KPK Law being revised. This was conveyed by Widodo following growing calls to strengthen the anti-graft agency.
"Yes, I agree", asserted Widodo after watching the Persis Solo soccer match against Madura United at the Manahan Stadium on Solo City on Friday afternoon February 13.
The former Jakarta governor explained that the 2019 revisions to the KPK Law, which are considered the root cause of the weakening of the KPK, were an initiative of the House of Representatives (DPR).
Widodo also claimed that he did not actually sign the law, which had been passed by the DPR and the government at the time. "Yes, indeed at the time it was revised on DPR's initiative. But I didn't sign it", said Widodo.
Although it was not signed by the president, Law Number 19/2019 automatically went into effect 30 days after it was ratified in a DPR plenary session.
Regarding former KPK chairperson Abraham Samad's proposal to improve the KPK commissioner recruitment mechanism, Widodo said he believes it's best to follow applicable regulations. "Yes, just follow existing regulations", he said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "ICW Kritik Jokowi soal UU KPK Direvisi Lagi: Cuci Tangan Kesalahan yang Lama".]
