Jokowi Asked To Reflect After Assessing Corruption Eradication Has Not Been Maximum

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) was asked to look in the mirror by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) after assessing that the eradication of corruption in Indonesia has not been maximized. Not only that, he is considered to have often made sweet promises to efforts to eradicate rasuah practices.

When opening the 2021 World Anti-Corruption Day (Hakordia), President Jokowi appreciated the work of law enforcement officials including the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). In fact, he showcased the performance of the Attorney General's Office which has succeeded in investigating allegations of corruption in PT Asabri and Jiwasraya.

However, the former governor of DKI Jakarta asked law enforcers not to be happy. Moreover, the public still believes that efforts to eradicate corruption in the country are not good enough.

"Law enforcement officials, including the KPK, once again should not be complacent because the public's assessment of efforts to eradicate corruption is still not considered good. We all must be aware of this," said Jokowi in his remarks, Thursday, December 9.

Jokowi also mentioned the Corruption Perception Index (GPA) 2020. According to him, improvements need to be made, especially since Indonesia's position is far from neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

"Compared to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, we still need to improve our Corruption Perception Index in 2020," he said.

"Singapore is in third place. Brunei Darussalam is ranked 35. This is in Asia out of 180 countries. Singapore, once again, is in third place, Brunei (Darussalam, ed) is ranked 35, Malaysia is ranked 57, and Indonesia is still ranked 102. We need our hard work to improve the Corruption Perception Index," he added.

ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana also reacted with this statement. He said President Jokowi should look in the mirror and realize why the eradication of corruption in Indonesia has not yet improved.

According to him, the absence of firmness from the head of state in law enforcement, especially related to corruption, has made efforts to eradicate it not optimal. In fact, ICW said that Jokowi often made sweet promises in this effort.

"People can judge that the President often only makes sweet promises to eradicate corruption," Kurnia said in her statement to reporters, Friday, December 10.

One of the statements that received attention from Kurnia was regarding the Bill on Asset Confiscation to be promulgated no later than next year. According to him, what Jokowi said is not in accordance with reality so it can be considered as a mere sweet promise.

"For example, the President in his Hakordia speech yesterday pushed for the Bill on Asset Confiscation to be promulgated next year. For ICW, that statement does not match today's reality," he said.

So, instead of asking law enforcement officials to work optimally, Kurnia said, Jokowi should first fix himself, especially in his commitment to eradicating corruption.

"The first party who must be aware and improve because the eradication of corruption has not improved is President Joko Widodo himself. Because the problem with law enforcement today is the absence of a clear attitude from the president," said the anti-corruption activist.

In addition, ICW also regrets that Jokowi did not directly reprimand the KPK because of the noise made by Firli Bahuri et al. Kurnia said that the reprimand should have been created because a lot of rowdy things have happened at the anti-corruption commission recently and one of them is the National Insight Test Assessment (TWK).

It is known, as a result of the TWK assessment, dozens of KPK employees had to be eliminated because they failed to become state civil servants, including Novel Baswedan. "ICW also regrets that the President did not mention the noise that is always created by the KPK leadership," said Kurnia.

According to him, this noise is the reason why the KPK's performance is now disrupted. "As the Head of State, the President should reprimand the KPK leadership," he said.

"Because, due to the endless noise, the KPK's working wheels are disrupted and its achievements are also far from ideal, especially in the scope of prosecution," concluded Kurnia.