Indonesia's Corruption Perception Index Declines, Mahfud MD Offends MA "Many Reduced Corruption Sentence"
JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD spoke about the decline in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
Mahfud said that one of the causes for the decline in public perception was so many reduced sentences for corruptors given by the Supreme Court (MA).
According to him, the Supreme Court did not hesitate to provide reduced sentences for corruptors through a judicial review even though they had received severe sentences from courts at the level I or II.
"In 2020, the Supreme Court's sentence of acquittal or reduced sentences by the Supreme Court has been rife," said Mahfud during the Corruption Perceptions Index Launch 2020 which was broadcasted on Transparency Indonesia International's Facebook account, Thursday, January 28.
He suspected that this reduction of the sentence period triggers a decline in public trust. He also considered this to have an impact on the government, even though the ruling had nothing to do with the government because it was directly knocked by the Supreme Court Judge.
Even so, Mahfud is aware that people's perceptions still blame the government for handling corruption and reducing penalties for corruptors who have received convictions.
"I already thought something would happen. But this is a country, I don't want to divide it into 'it's not the government, that's not us' that can't be," he said.
Apart from the issue of sentence reduction by the Supreme Court, another indicator that causes the public to have a bad perception of handling corruption is the one related to the new KPK Law.
The former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) said that since the regulation was passed, there were many bad perceptions regarding the handling of corruption in Indonesia, and even the public thought that the law was a legal product designed to weaken the KPK.
"Even though the fact may be true, can it not decrease or weaken it, it just depends on what angle you want to see," he said.
"But I already suspected that, oh this will lead to a bad perception in the international world, the legal world regarding the eradication of corruption, the weakening of the eradication of corruption," Mahfud added.
As previously reported, Transparency International Indonesia (TII) released a Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Based on their research, Indonesia experienced a drop in score of up to 3 points compared to 2019 and lost to Malaysia and Timor Leste.
In 2020, Indonesia will score a perception index score of 37 points. Meanwhile, in 2019, the perception index score amounted to 40 points.
"Our CPI in 2020 is at a score of 37 with a ranking of 102. This score has dropped three points from 2019," said Wawan in an online presentation posted on Transparency International Indonesia's Facebook account, Thursday, January 28.
He then explained that in the Southeast Asia region, with this score Indonesia is in the fifth level. Meanwhile, Singapore is in first place with a score of 85.
Furthermore, in second place there is Brunei Darussalam with a score of 60, Malaysia with a score of 51, and Timor Leste 40.
Then in sixth place, there is Vietnam with a perception index score of 36, Thailand with a score of 26, the Philippines with a score of 34, and Laos with a score of 29. Myanmar with a score of 28 and the most distended is Cambodia with a score of 21.
Meanwhile, with 180 countries in the world and included in the research conducted by TII, Indonesia has the same score as Gambia.