Yusril Ihza Mahendra's Reluctance To Become The KPK Supervisory Board

Advocate and Chairperson of the Bulan Bintang Party Yusril Ihza Mahendra (Irvan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - In a matter of days, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will inaugurate the Supervisory Board of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The plan is that the council, which was born from the revision of the KPK Law Number 19 of 2019, will be inaugurated with the KPK leadership for the 2019-2023 period.

There are a number of names of candidates that have emerged including Yusril Ihza Mahendra who is an expert in constitutional law, former KPK commissioner Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, Professor of Gadjah Mada University Marcus Priyo Gunarto, former KPK commissioner Indriyanto Seno Adji and former KPK Deputy Chair Amien Sunaryadi.

Yusril also responded to the question of his name being included in the KPK Supervisory Board candidate. However, the former Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin attorney in the 2019 presidential election admitted that he was not interested in the position.

"I prefer to remain a professional advocate who is categorized as a law enforcer by the Advocate Law rather than being a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)," said Yusril in a written statement to reporters, Monday, December 16.

In addition to asserting that he is not interested in becoming the KPK supervisory board, Yusril also said that neither the Presidential Palace nor any other parties have discussed this matter with him. Therefore, Yusril believes that the news that he will be appointed to the KPK supervisory board is only rumors, even though many have congratulated him.

"I consider that the mention of my name as a candidate for the Corruption Eradication Commission of the Corruption Eradication Commission is only rumors," he said.

It is known that besides Yusril, there is also the name of the Special Staff Coordinator for the National Task Force to Eradicate Illegal Fishing, Mas Achmad Santosa, former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Adi Toegarisman and former prosecutor Tumpak Hatorangan. The names are rumored to be included in the ranks of the KPK Supervisory Board.

KPK Building (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

Regarding the names of the candidates for the KPK Supervisory Board, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), who has so far spoken out loud regarding the rejection of the KPK Law Number 19 of 2019, did not want to comment on anything.

According to him, ICW together with other anti-corruption civil society coalitions have continued to monitor the course of the judicial review (JR) in the Constitutional Court which they submitted in November 2019. In addition, ICW also maintains their position of rejecting the existence of the KPK Supervisory Board.

"In principle, ICW rejects all packages of the new KPK Law including its print, including the adult, so we are still in a position to wait for the results of the JR KPK Law first," said ICW Coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo when contacted by VOI via telephone, Monday, December 16.

Some time ago, Adnan had indeed explained the reasons for ICW's rejection of the council which would later replace the role of the KPK leadership in granting wiretapping, searches and confiscation permits.

"The supervisory board is dangerous if it is implanted in the body of the KPK. Even though in the future they will always give permission for wiretapping but the potential for leakage is very high," he said explaining the reason there is no need for a supervisory board to be formed within the anti-corruption agency.

Previously reported, Minister of State Secretary Praktikno was asked by President Jokowi to lead an internal team to find the name of the KPK Supervisory Board. Apart from Praktikno, there were also the names Ari Dwipayana, Sukardi Rinakit, Dini Purwono, and Fadjroel Rachman who also selected a number of names.

Approaching the day of his inauguration, President Jokowi admitted that he was still seeing the track records of candidates for the Supervisory Board of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"Just in the finalization process, we also see one by one the track records of the integrity of all," Jokowi told reporters at the State Palace, Jakarta, Friday, December 13.

Jokowi conducted a detailed check to prevent the supervisory board from being bullied by the public who were dissatisfied with their performance. "Do not let us be mistaken then there are people who are not satisfied, then (Dewas KPK) was bullied. Pity," he concluded.