Prabowo's Speech On Corruption At The MPR Annual Session Was Considered ICW Not In Accordance With Reality

President Prabowo Subianto/PHOTO via Instagram @prabowo

JAKARTA - Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) assessed that President Prabowo Subianto's speech during the MPR Annual Session on Friday, August 15 did not match reality. The proof is that many corruptors in power and law enforcement have recently been at stake for political interests.

"Although the government often conveys its commitment to eradicating corruption, again it is not directly proportional to the reality on the ground," said ICW Public Education Division Coordinator Nisa Zonzoa in a written statement, Monday, August 18.

Nisa said that the age of 80 years of Indonesia's independence should be a momentum to reflect on efforts to eradicate corruption. Moreover, Prabowo in his speech said that all parties must have the courage to see the disease that exists within themselves.

"In fact, the main disease that has plagued this nation is corruption. To this day, corruptors still control the country, people are increasingly marginalized, policies are increasingly not in favor of the people, and law enforcement is at stake in the interests of the political elite which ultimately erodes the value of justice," he stressed.

ICW highlighted the government's recent steps to weaken efforts to eradicate corruption. Among them are the granting of abolitions to the former Minister of Trade (Mendag) Tom Lembong and the amnesty of the Secretary General of PDIP Hasto Kristiyanto.

"Although this is the prerogative of the president, granting amnesty and abolition before the inkracht legal process can be seen as a dangerous political intervention in enforcing anti-corruption laws and causing an arbitrary impression," said Nisa.

"This step has the potential to weaken the deterrent effect on corrupt practices, signal that corrupt officials can be protected, and encourage impunity culture that harms the interests of the people," he continued.

In addition, ICW also gave the spotlight for the light verdict of corruptors. Nisa said that her party had data on the average corruption perpetrators who were punished for 3 years and 782 people who were acquitted/legal throughout 2015-2023.

The government also has not discussed and ratified the Asset Confiscation Bill. "So, the commitment to eradicate corruption that is often echoed by the government is questionable," he said.

"In fact, through the Asset Confiscation Bill, it can accelerate the recovery of state losses while blocking corruptors' loopholes to hide and transfer their assets. The stagnation of discussions and ratification of the Asset Confiscation Bill is a strong signal that the government is also not in favor of the interests of the people," explained Nisa.

Presiden Prabowo Subianto sebelumnya menyebut korupsi jadi masalah besar di Tanah Air saat Sidang Tahunan MPR RI pada Jumat, 15 Agustus. Dia bilang praktik lancung terjadi di tiap institusi.

He conveyed this after talking about power, it must be carried out transparently. Because, without supervision, corruption will occur.

"We understand and understand that in a modern country there needs to be supervision, there needs to be transparency in carrying out power. We understand the history of mankind, if there is power that is not supervised, then power will become corrupt, absolute power will become absolute corruption," Prabowo said during a speech at the MPR Annual Session.

Prabowo understands that corruption is now a big problem in Indonesia because it exists in every echelon, government institution, to BUMN and BUMD. He also emphasized that this fact should not be covered up.

"We understand that corruption is a big problem in our nation, corrupt behavior exists in every echelon of our bureaucracy, there are in every government institution and organization, corrupt behavior is in our BUMN BUMN, it is in our BUMD BUMD, this is not a fact that we must cover up," he said.

"After 299 days I led the executive government, I increasingly know how much our challenges are, how much misappropriation is in our government environment. This is not good but I have to report it to the representatives of the Indonesian people."