Weakening
of the KPK :
Corruptors’
fight-back manual
Florian Vernaz ; Sustainability
and political risk consultant;
Technical advisor to Transparency International Indonesia
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JAKARTA
POST, 27 Januari 2015
The European Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO)
has developed a framework of analysis to describe strategies used to weaken
anti-corruption agencies.
The analysis looks at three particular aspects, namely
legislative reform, restructurization and budgetary cuts.
Such textbook methodology has been followed step-by-step
by adversaries of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK),
starting with a legislative battle on the constitutionality of the Special
Court for Corruption Crimes (Tipikor) in 2006, followed by restructuring of
the Tipikor and pressure on the KPK’s budget and human resources.
Last week Indonesia even witnessed the addition of a new
chapter to this “corruptors’ fight-back manual” — criminalization — currently
being “re-edited” after a first, unsuccessful, attempt in 2009.
In 2009, the arrest of KPK commissioners Bibit Samad
Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, under circumstances very similar to the recent
arrest of current deputy Bambang Widjojanto, triggered unprecedented public
mobilization through a movement known as “CICAK” (gecko).
CICAK stands for Cinta Indonesia CintA KPK (Love
Indonesia, Love the KPK), a pun referring to former police detective chief
Susno Duadji’s now famous statement comparing KPK’s efforts to challenge him
to a fight between a gecko and a crocodile.
A formidable wave of popular support eventually led to
charges against the deputies being dropped and contributed to the KPK’s
popular image as the most credible law enforcement agency in the fight
against corruption.
The motto of the public campaign captures the essence of
the KPK’s power: the people’s unconditional support for a symbol of national
unity in the fight against corruption. Following the arrest of deputy Bambang
last Friday, KPK chairman Abraham Samad was prompt to reiterate that “if you
love Indonesia, you love the KPK”, as a call on the public to reaffirm its
support for the commission.
But the KPK’s opponents have learned from the past. They
have learned that public support is the KPK’s best defense.
They have learned that the gecko can triumph over the
crocodile, if he is bolstered by popular support. They have understood that
if you want to take the KPK down, you have to weaken its ties with the
public; you have to dent its image of integrity and political independence.
That is the rationale behind the series of political
attacks launched against the KPK, accused of abuse of power and political
intervention.
Bambang’s arrest was merely one act of a denigration
campaign against the KPK and its leaders. Chairman Abraham is being
relentlessly accused of using the KPK to support his own political agenda.
The rhetoric of KPK commissioners’ political motivations
aims to weaken the unanimous public cohesion behind the KPK and crack its
image as the nation’s most credible anti-corruption agency, independent from
political interference.
Looking back, a parallel can be drawn with the
presidential campaign.
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the then extremely popular Jakarta
governor, who was expected to win the presidential election by a landslide,
saw his considerable margin melt like ice under the sun. Why? Because a well-crafted
campaign systematically attacked his image as the candidate of the people,
independent from the political establishment.
The campaign introduced doubts about Jokowi’s real
independence from political oligarchs. It focused on the idea that his
undeniable qualities and achievements would become irrelevant if he had to
bow to higher political interests.
The popular, independent political outsider would then
become just another player in the same old political game.
The same mechanisms are in motion to weaken public support
of the KPK. By presenting Abraham as a bitter former vice-preidential hopeful
taking his revenge on the National Police deputy Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan,
also Megawati Soekarnoputri’s former adjutant, for his instrumental role in
helping her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secure the vice
presidency for Jusuf Kalla, Budi’s supporters are challenging the integrity
of the KPK as an institution.
If doubts emerge regarding the KPK’s political
independence and integrity, a line of fracture will appear in public opinion,
which will be exploited by the KPK’s opponents.
President Jokowi’s statement last Friday, calling for all
parties, notably the media, to remain “objective” and rely on legal processes
to solve the conflict, was interpreted as a call to remain “passive” and
refrain from demonstrating public support to the KPK.
However,
public mobilization in the past couple of days has demonstrated that people’s
love for that little gecko isn’t “objective”, and that the flame is still
very much alive. ●
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