Public Trust Level Declines, KPK Proposed To Join The Attorney General's Office

KPK Building/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The proposal for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to be merged with the Attorney General's Office has emerged. The reason is that the level of trust in institutions has decreased compared to the previous one based on the survey results.

Indonesian Political Indicators call the KPK a law enforcement agency with the lowest level of trust among other institutions such as the Attorney General's Office and the National Police. This condition is reflected in the results of a national survey that was held on May 18-24.

The one who voiced this issue was a former employee of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who is now a legal practitioner of the Visi Law Office, Rasamala Aritonang.

"I suggest that the KPK be disbanded. Strengthen the prosecutor's office," said Rasamala as quoted from his Twitter account, @RasamalaArt on Thursday, June 9.

Strengthening the Prosecutor's Office, he continued, could be done by allocating the entire budget of the KPK. This is considered to be able to affect the performance of the Adhyaksa Corps compared to continuing to finance the anti-corruption commission, which continues to decline in performance. prevention function, Rasamala said, the KPK could join with other institutions. "KPK should be combined with the Ombudsman to focus on prevention," he said.

For information, the law enforcement agency with the highest level of trust based on the results of the Indonesian Political Indicators survey is the TNI, which reaches 85.3 percent. Meanwhile, Polri is at 66.6 percent; Attorney General's Office 60.5 percent; Court with 51.1 percent; and the KPK 49.8 percent.

Returning to the proposal for the KPK to join the Attorney General's Office, the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) Boyamin Saiman also agreed. According to him, this step is considered more useful.

"MAKI supports the proposal to disband the KPK and then the KPK employee personnel will be merged with the Round Building where corruption or criminal cases are handled specifically for the Attorney General's Office," said Boyamin in a written statement to reporters, Saturday, June 11.

Boyamin then highlighted the budget gap between the two institutions. Based on data owned by Boyamin, the salaries of investigators and prosecutors at the KPK are around Rp. 25 million.

"Meanwhile at the Attorney General's Office it is Rp. 11 million," he said.

Next, echelon II at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) earns Rp. 40 million, while at the AGO it is only Rp. 25 million.

"KPK's budget for handling corruption cases is around Rp. 70 billion while the Bundang Building is around Rp. 30 billion. That also includes handling crimes outside of corruption, such as human rights, taxes and customs," said Boyamin.

"With the KPK being merged with the Attorney General's Office, it will have an impact on increasing salaries so that they will have more achievements," he added.

Against this proposal, the KPK said that its institution was not anti-critical. All inputs will be accepted and the survey results will be used as evaluation material.

"Because we are well aware that community participation is very important in a joint effort to eradicate corruption," Acting KPK Spokesperson for Enforcement Affairs Ali Fikri told reporters.

"KPK appreciates the survey results as part of the community's role. We use them as material for introspection and positive input for the internal improvement of the KPK," he added.

Even so, Ali had mentioned Boyamin Saiman who asked for the merger of the KPK with the Attorney General's Office. He even mentioned the alleged gratification and money laundering crime (TPPU) of the inactive Banjarnegara Regent, Budhi Sarwono, who also dragged Boyamin's name.

"Usually Boyamin Saiman is smart with his arguments. This time we value it differently. But we are very sure that it is not because the KPK is currently handling the case of the Banjarnegara Regent that Boyamin Saiman narrates opinions with such shallow arguments," he said.

Ali also confirmed that the investigation into the alleged gratification and money laundering offenses involving Budhi would continue. As for the bribery case, he said that Budhi Sarwono had now been found guilty by the court.

"We also continue to develop the case in question. We will convey the progress," he concluded.