‘Crocodile vs gecko’ part 2, or ‘Raging Bull’? Julia Suryakusuma  ;  The author of Julia’s Jihad

JAKARTA POST, 28 Januari 2015

                                                                                                                                     

                                                

Hollywood loves making sequels, and it looks like Indonesia is following suit in the political arena, with the second episode of the “crocodile vs. gecko” saga. The first was in 2010, between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police, involving Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate (Bareskrim), who was found guilty of corruption. Ironically, it was Susno himself who coined the term “gecko vs. crocodile”, likening the police to a crocodile and the KPK to a gecko. He tauntingly said, “How can a gecko fight a crocodile?” But the small gecko won! Now the gecko is being attacked again by the crocodile: same institutions, different actors. One KPK deputy was arrested by Bareskrim: Bambang Widjojanto, for his alleged role in getting witnesses to give false testimony in the West Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, election dispute case in 2010. Another deputy, Adnan Pandu Praja, was also reported to police for allegedly owning illegal shares in a company in East Kalimantan. Abraham Samad, head of the KPK, was the victim of a smear campaign. Hasto Kristiyanto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) recently claimed that Abraham met with party figures to become President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s running mate in last year’s presidential elections. Fake photos of Abraham kissing Elvira D. Wirayanti, Miss Indonesia 2014, were circulated to further discredit him. All this happened just days after Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, Jokowi’s sole candidate for National Police chief, was declared a corruption suspect by the KPK. Coincidence or what? Unsurprisingly, the KPK saw these attacks as an attempt to discredit, weaken, criminalize and ultimately destroy the antigraft body. Judging from the massive response — in demonstrations, discussions, social media chatter and in the media itself — society at large agrees. But is this really “crocodile versus gecko” part two? Or is it more a case of the “Raging Bull”, involving Megawati Soekarnoputri’s PDI-P, whose party symbol is a bull? This time the police got involved, allegedly at the behest of the PDI-P — and many say at the behest of Megawati herself. Rachmawati, Megawati’s sister, accused Mega of being the troublemaker behind the second episode of “crocodile vs. gecko” by insisting that Budi be appointed head of police. Previously, reports said Mega had wanted to secure for Budi a position in Jokowi’s Cabinet. However, Budi received a “red mark” from the KPK and Jokowi dropped him. Now, has Jokowi forgotten he’s the President? He’s obliged to defend the nation’s interests even if it means going against the wishes of Mega, his patron-saint! Duh. Budi was her personal adjutant in 2001-2004 when she was president, so okay, they were close. According to Rachmawati, due to his proximity to Mega, Budi had easy access to various business possibilities. His suspiciously fat bank accounts have been a public secret for a long time. The KPK finally caught on, that’s all. Ironically, the KPK was set up during Megawati’s presidency. She must be feeling like she created a Frankenstein. Student activists once dubbed her president “Megawati Soehartoputri” (daughter of Soeharto) due to her failure to stamp out the endemic KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) rampant during the strongman’s reign. The “Soehartoputri” epithet was also related to her autocratic traits. Student activists were arrested and prosecuted for stomping on her picture and burning her effigy, as she said her picture was a state symbol. Ah, l’état c’est moi (I am the state), is it? Shades of Louis XIV! The Budi Gunawan affair is a chance for Jokowi to show that he is the President, not Megawati’s puppet. About three months into his presidency Jokowi earned himself another Time magazine cover. When he became president, he was put on the cover along with the words, “A New Hope”. Now, a satirized version of this cover reads: “A New Hopeless”. Today’s saga is more than just a feud between the police and the KPK: it’s about the state of our national leadership and where it’s taking the nation. Jokowi was supposed to symbolize change. Now he seems a pawn of the power elite. As for the KPK, it has to be defended to the death. It may not be perfect, but it’s the only institution that has helped build the rule of law. Everyone they have prosecuted was guilty and is doing time. No other body has a remotely comparable record of doing the right thing. The only error the KPK has made is not prosecuting everyone they think is guilty. In July 2014, WikiLeaks released an Australian censorship order concerning corruption cases, naming current and past heads of states of Indonesia, their relatives and senior officials, to “prevent damage to Australia’s international relations”. Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati were on the list. The Indonesian media has also mentioned the possible involvement of Edhie “Ibas” Baskoro (Yudhoyono’s son), Ani Yudhoyono, former vice president Boediono and current Vice President Jusuf Kalla in KKN cases. Scholars have a lot of theories about why dictatorships fall and how democracy arises (competitive elections, freedom of expression, etc.). But very little is known about how the rule of law gets established. It is a long and painstaking process to make legal institutions more powerful than powerful figures in a society like Indonesia. But that is what creating the rule of law is about. Legal institutions gain strength by winning battle after battle against powerful individuals with powerful friends. If the KPK loses this latest round, our legal infrastructure will be badly damaged and we lose as a nation. ●