ICW said that the decline in IPK was inseparable from the statements of Luhut and Tito who were permissive towards corruption

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) assessed that the decline in Indonesia’s corruption perception index (CPI) score to 34 out of 100 was inseparable from the permissive attitude of President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) cabinet ministers towards corruption behavior.

ICW researcher, Kurnia Ramadhana said that one of Jokowi’s employees who showed such a permissive attitude was the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

“Had repeatedly commented on the hand-catching operation (OTT) with destructive sentences,” Kurnia said in his official statement, Wednesday (1/2/2023).

For information, IKP or corruption perceptions index (CPI) measures perceptions of corruption in the public sector.

CPI was released by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) by ranking 180 countries with the level of corruption in the world. A country with a score of 0 means very prone to corruption while 100 is free of corruption.

Also read: Corruption Perceptions Index Score Drops to 34 Points, ICW Calls Indonesia Deserves to be Categorized as a Corrupt Country

Kurnia revealed that another permissive attitude was shown from the statement by the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian who requested that law enforcement officials not take action against regional heads.

Tito Karnavian asked law enforcement officials to focus on accompanying regional heads.

“Statements of this kind certainly show an attitude that is contrary to expectations for improvements in eradicating corruption,” said Kurnia.

Another problem that is suspected of causing the CPI to drop is the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).KPK) through the 2019 KPK Law Revision (UU).

In ICW’s view, the KPK is an institution that has been aggressively eradicating political corruption.

“That’s not enough, the president also allows problematic figures to lead the anti-corruption agency,” said Kurnia.

Also read: Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index in 2022 Decreases 4 Points to 34

Furthermore, the president and DPR through their policy products are considered not to support strengthening the eradication of corruption.

According to Kurnia, in the last five years the laws that have been enacted do nothing more than weaken the eradication of corruption.

He gave an example, some of the policy products include revisions to the Criminal Code (KUHP), the Correctional Law, the Job Creation Law, the Constitutional Court Law, and the Mineral and Coal Law (Minerba).

In ICW’s opinion, all claims related to the formation of laws that support the eradication of corruption are just illusions.

“Likewise, the President, his political promises during the 2014 and 2019 campaigns were simply forgotten along with the strengthening of the circle of political interests,” he said.

Also read: Corruption Perceptions Index Score Drops, Indonesian Democracy is in Serious Problems

Kurnia then said that the narratives on eradicating corruption presented by President Jokowi were only sweeteners.

According to him, Jokowi’s government will be remembered as the worst post-reform regime in terms of eradicating corruption.

Kurnia said the messy eradication of corruption was in contrast to Jokowi’s remarks while attending the commemoration of World Anti-Corruption Day (Hakordia).

At that time, Jokowi said that corruption was the root of various development challenges and problems.

“Observing the Indonesian CPI, it can be concluded that the President’s string of sentences related to eradicating corruption is just a mere decoration of speech,” said Kurnia.

Also read: The Deputy for Prevention of the Corruption Eradication Committee was Shocked to Death that the Corruption Perception Index in Indonesia had fallen

It is known that Luhut previously said that the KPK’s sting operation (OTT) had damaged the country’s image.

According to him, OTT no longer needs to be done if digitization is carried out in various sectors.

With digitalization, said Luhut, it would be difficult for officials to commit corruption.

“Because this has changed this country, we don’t try to talk high, we are OTT-OTT, it’s not really good, it’s really bad for this country,” said Luhut at Thamrin Nine Ballroom, Tuesday (20/12/2022).

Meanwhile, Tito Karnavian asked law enforcement officials not to investigate or summon regional heads.

He is worried that regional heads are afraid of the presence of the apparatus so that regional policies do not work.

“Don’t let the regional heads fear that APH will be summoned, summoned, inquired (investigated), summoned, inquired, morale will drop,” Tito said in his remarks at a coordination meeting of regional inspectorates throughout Indonesia at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday (25/1 /2023).

Also read: Bivitri Reveals Authoritarianism Wrapped in Law, Legal but Can Be Dangerous

“So, the Corruption Eradication Committee should not even catch a few arrests, that is. Yes, have a look, but if digitalization is already running, in my opinion, (corruptors) won’t be able to play around,” he added.

contacted Kompas.com, Spokesperson for the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Jodi Mahardi said that Luhut’s statement did not mean that he disagreed with the KPK’s OTT efforts.

According to Jodi, Luhut is of the view that if there is no system improvement, OTT will continue to be repeated. Plus, corruptors are getting more sophisticated in their evasion.

Therefore, Jodi said, Luhut asked the public to think more forward, namely how to implement a system that narrows the loopholes for corruption.

“We’ll see that in developed countries, OTT rarely happens. It doesn’t mean that Pak Luhut doesn’t agree with OTT,” said Jodi in a written message, Wednesday (1/2/2023).

Meanwhile, the Head of the Information Center (Kapuspen) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Benny Irwan, who was tried to be contacted, has yet to respond.

Previously, TII released that Indonesia’s GPA fell 4 points to 34 in 2022.

In addition, Indonesia also dropped to 110th place, down 14 ranks from the previous year at level 96.

Also read: Corruption Perceptions Index Score Drops to 34 Points, ICW Calls Indonesia Deserves to be Categorized as a Corrupt Country

Deputy Secretary General of TII, Wawan Suyatmiko said, his party uses nine indicators in measuring CPI.

As for one of the indicators that are in the spotlight is Political Risk Service (PRS) or political risk.

This indicator fell by 13 points from 48 in 2021 to 35 in 2022.

Meanwhile, a decrease of more than 4 points indicates a significant change.

“That contributed to the decline in our CPI from 38 to 34 this year,” said Wawan.

Also read: Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index in 2022 Decreases 4 Points to 34

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