Senior public figures renew calls for repeal of KPK Law revisions

The Jakarta Post

Jakarta / Fri, October 4, 2019 / 06:50 pm

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center) speaks with several national figures after a meeting at the
Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta on Sept. 26, 2019. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

A
group of senior public figures and scholars have lambasted the political elites for “misleading” the public
and “threatening” President Jokowi “Jokowi” Widodo in a bid to block attempts to revoke the new
Corruption Eradication Law.

During a meeting at the State Palace last week, the group urged the President to issue a regulation in
lieu of law (Perppu) to overwrite the new KPK Law, which they said contained articles that would
weaken the antigraft body.

The President said he would consider the suggestion.

The group included cultural critic Goenawan Mohamad, economist Emil Salim, Quranic expert Quraish
Shihab, former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD, philosopher Franz Magnis-Suseno and
former KPK commissioners Taufiequrachman Ruki and Chandra Hamzah.

Jokowi’s coalition parties, however, have outright rejected the idea, saying the law had not been
implemented yet and that the public could challenge it at the Constitutional Court.

NasDem Party leader Surya Paloh argued that issuing a Perppu could prove problematic for Jokowi. Such
a move could easily be politicized and Jokowi could face impeachment for doing so, he said as quoted by
kompas.com.

“A week after the meeting, a wave of rejection from political parties is mounting. A number of
inaccurate arguments have been put forward, misleading the public that a Perppu cannot be issued.
Moreover, some parties said the President could be ousted for issuing a Perppu,” the group said in a
statement on Friday.

They argued that issuing a Perppu was a constitutional right of the President and therefore could not be
used as a pretext to impeach him.

“We call on the President to immediately issue a Perppu to correct the KPK Law revisions to strengthen
the President’s commitment to corruption eradication,” they said. “We remind the political elites not to
issue misleading and alarmist statements or threaten the President.” (ahw)