ID :
80682
Sat, 09/19/2009 - 00:02
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News Focus: PRESIDENT TO APPOINT THREE INTERIM OFFICIALS FOR KPK
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, Sept 18 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will in the near future appoint interim officials for the posts left vacant by three Corruption Eradicaion Commission (KPK) leaders who have become suspects in authority abuse and murder cases.
The appointments which would be made after the issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) were not an intervention in the comission's independence but intended to prevent a stagnation in the ongoing eradication of corruption, the president said after a fast-breaking function at the State Palace here on Thursday.
"I have been in office for five years, and I have never intervened in KPK, including in its decisions on who must be investigated, regradless of whether those investigated are related to me," Yudhoyono said.
He said he had communicated his intention to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to the House Speaker, Chairman of the Constitutional Court and Chairman of the Supreme Court.
Based on his consultations with the chairmen of the three supreme state institions, it was agreed that the vacuum in the KPK leadership at present would disturb the performance of corruption eradication. Unfortunately, there had been no legal solution to overcome it. "In this case, Perppu is believed to be the only solution."
"We have to be sure that the Perppu should be the right solution. If not, it will be rejected by the House of Representatives. One month after the issuance of the Perppu, the House must approve or reject it," the president said as quoted by Kompas daily.
The KPK leadership was now only in the hands of two persons, while three other leaders were in police custody for alleged involvement in criminal offences.
Two KPK vice chairmen - Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah - had been named suspects for abuse of authority, while its Chairman, Antasari Azhar, had to face a legal mechanism in a murder case.
Yudhoyono further explained that the interim officials to occupy the vacant posts in the KPK could be appointed from the candidates submitted previously by the president to the House. Perhaps, the interim officials could also be picked from those in the KPK.
In the meantime, Supreme Court Chairman Harifin Tumpa after meeting with the president said he had discussed the possibility of ensuring the KPK's continued functioning through a government regulation in liew of law.
Tumpa said the president had consulted with him on the overriding conditions which had to be overcome by issuing a perppu on a certain matter.
The Perppu, the head of state was considering to issue was the one that would enable the KPK to continue functioning effectively although three of its five top executives had been named suspects in criminal offenses by the police and therefore under the law they were suspended from their positions, Tumpa said.
However, Tumpa said, it was also possible for the President under a Perppu to set up a mechanism for the appointment of temporary replacements for the three suspended top KPK executives.
"If the President deems it important to fill the three vacancies soon, then that is what he will do through the Perppu," he said.
Tumpa pointed out recruiting new KPK top leaders through the mechanism prescribed in the Law on KPK would take at least six months' time but a Perppu could considerably reduce the needed time.
"In my view, it is better to defer the normal recruitment procedure and take immediate action by issuing a Perppu for the appointment of a provisional KPK leadership," he said.
Tumpa denied that by issuing a Perppu, the President would commit an act of interference in KPK or be taking over a function of the House of Representatives (DPR) which had so far been selecting the people for the KPK leadership.
He said the selection of KPK top executives by the House applied only under normal circumstances while, in an emergency, it was quite lawful for the president to take over that House function.
"That is what a Perppu is for. It is the only key to arrive at a quick solution in case of emergency," he said.
The vacancies in the KPK leadership were no longer a matter of an independent House commission but a national problem because they were threatening to derail the nation's anti-corruption drive, according to the supreme justice.
"Viewed in this light, the overriding conditions for the president to issue a Perppu on KPU are already met," he said.
Tumpa said the President was also expecting advice on the KPK problem from the chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK) and the House of Representatives (DPR) speaker, but so far only he (Tumpa) had provided his views.
He said if the Perppu was actually issued, it would be effective until the new House convened to consider it. If the new parliament endorsed the Perppu, it would replace the existing law on KPK.
In response to the president's intention to appoint interim officials for KPK, Secretary General of the Indonesian Advocates Association Harry Ponto saw that the president's intention to issue the Perppu as a smart step in a bid to prevent more troubles from coming up to surface that may hamper the ongoing process of corruption eradication.
By the step, the president would be far from negative perception which tend to let the KPK in a weak position after naming their leaders of the KPK suspects by the police, Harry said.
Harry admitted that the Perppu should gain such an approval from the House. If the Perppu is to be submitted to the House next month, it is possible that it will be accepted by the House, as majority of the legislators in the House are cadres of the Democrat Party.
Of the original five members of the KPK's collective leadership, only two now remain in effective control over the anti-graft body. KPK Chairman Antasasri Azhar is in jail as a defendant in a murder case, and two vice-chairmen, Chndra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto have been named suspects in an abuse of power case.
Under the law on KPK, any KPK top executive who has been formally named a suspect in a criminal offense must be suspended from his position in the anti-graft body through a presidential decree. ***
Jakarta, Sept 18 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will in the near future appoint interim officials for the posts left vacant by three Corruption Eradicaion Commission (KPK) leaders who have become suspects in authority abuse and murder cases.
The appointments which would be made after the issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) were not an intervention in the comission's independence but intended to prevent a stagnation in the ongoing eradication of corruption, the president said after a fast-breaking function at the State Palace here on Thursday.
"I have been in office for five years, and I have never intervened in KPK, including in its decisions on who must be investigated, regradless of whether those investigated are related to me," Yudhoyono said.
He said he had communicated his intention to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to the House Speaker, Chairman of the Constitutional Court and Chairman of the Supreme Court.
Based on his consultations with the chairmen of the three supreme state institions, it was agreed that the vacuum in the KPK leadership at present would disturb the performance of corruption eradication. Unfortunately, there had been no legal solution to overcome it. "In this case, Perppu is believed to be the only solution."
"We have to be sure that the Perppu should be the right solution. If not, it will be rejected by the House of Representatives. One month after the issuance of the Perppu, the House must approve or reject it," the president said as quoted by Kompas daily.
The KPK leadership was now only in the hands of two persons, while three other leaders were in police custody for alleged involvement in criminal offences.
Two KPK vice chairmen - Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah - had been named suspects for abuse of authority, while its Chairman, Antasari Azhar, had to face a legal mechanism in a murder case.
Yudhoyono further explained that the interim officials to occupy the vacant posts in the KPK could be appointed from the candidates submitted previously by the president to the House. Perhaps, the interim officials could also be picked from those in the KPK.
In the meantime, Supreme Court Chairman Harifin Tumpa after meeting with the president said he had discussed the possibility of ensuring the KPK's continued functioning through a government regulation in liew of law.
Tumpa said the president had consulted with him on the overriding conditions which had to be overcome by issuing a perppu on a certain matter.
The Perppu, the head of state was considering to issue was the one that would enable the KPK to continue functioning effectively although three of its five top executives had been named suspects in criminal offenses by the police and therefore under the law they were suspended from their positions, Tumpa said.
However, Tumpa said, it was also possible for the President under a Perppu to set up a mechanism for the appointment of temporary replacements for the three suspended top KPK executives.
"If the President deems it important to fill the three vacancies soon, then that is what he will do through the Perppu," he said.
Tumpa pointed out recruiting new KPK top leaders through the mechanism prescribed in the Law on KPK would take at least six months' time but a Perppu could considerably reduce the needed time.
"In my view, it is better to defer the normal recruitment procedure and take immediate action by issuing a Perppu for the appointment of a provisional KPK leadership," he said.
Tumpa denied that by issuing a Perppu, the President would commit an act of interference in KPK or be taking over a function of the House of Representatives (DPR) which had so far been selecting the people for the KPK leadership.
He said the selection of KPK top executives by the House applied only under normal circumstances while, in an emergency, it was quite lawful for the president to take over that House function.
"That is what a Perppu is for. It is the only key to arrive at a quick solution in case of emergency," he said.
The vacancies in the KPK leadership were no longer a matter of an independent House commission but a national problem because they were threatening to derail the nation's anti-corruption drive, according to the supreme justice.
"Viewed in this light, the overriding conditions for the president to issue a Perppu on KPU are already met," he said.
Tumpa said the President was also expecting advice on the KPK problem from the chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK) and the House of Representatives (DPR) speaker, but so far only he (Tumpa) had provided his views.
He said if the Perppu was actually issued, it would be effective until the new House convened to consider it. If the new parliament endorsed the Perppu, it would replace the existing law on KPK.
In response to the president's intention to appoint interim officials for KPK, Secretary General of the Indonesian Advocates Association Harry Ponto saw that the president's intention to issue the Perppu as a smart step in a bid to prevent more troubles from coming up to surface that may hamper the ongoing process of corruption eradication.
By the step, the president would be far from negative perception which tend to let the KPK in a weak position after naming their leaders of the KPK suspects by the police, Harry said.
Harry admitted that the Perppu should gain such an approval from the House. If the Perppu is to be submitted to the House next month, it is possible that it will be accepted by the House, as majority of the legislators in the House are cadres of the Democrat Party.
Of the original five members of the KPK's collective leadership, only two now remain in effective control over the anti-graft body. KPK Chairman Antasasri Azhar is in jail as a defendant in a murder case, and two vice-chairmen, Chndra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto have been named suspects in an abuse of power case.
Under the law on KPK, any KPK top executive who has been formally named a suspect in a criminal offense must be suspended from his position in the anti-graft body through a presidential decree. ***
