Indonesia’s anti-graft agency, tasked by President Joko Widodo to assess candidates for his cabinet, said it is investigating several ministers in former leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government and wants the incoming team to sign an integrity pact.
Widodo, who was inaugurated Oct. 20, dropped eight of his candidates for the cabinet after an earlier screening by the Corruption Eradication Commission and presented new names this week. The agency known as KPK submitted its assessment of the revised list late yesterday, Andi Widjajanto, an adviser to Widodo, told reporters.
“He has to be supported by clean and clear and great ministers,” Adnan Pandu Praja, the KPK's vice chairman, said in an interview yesterday at the KPK’s radio and television studio in Jakarta, from where it broadcasts coverage of corruption cases.
“Jokowi needs to get assurance from the KPK that his cabinet will not get problems with the KPK.” The unprecedented move by Widodo, known as Jokowi, to ask the KPK to check ministerial candidates shows his commitment to fight graft and avoid the problems faced by Yudhoyono, Praja said.
The formation of the cabinet is the first test for Jokowi as the country’s leader, after winning the presidency on promises to curb corruption, improve the bureaucracy and build infrastructure. Jokowi will inaugurate his ministers Oct. 27, Detik.com reported yesterday, citing Vice-President Jusuf Kalla.
The country’s corruption court in July sentenced the former sports minister in Yudhoyono’s government, Andi Mallarangeng, to four years in jail for slack supervision that led to graft in a ministry project, and in September named the former energy and mining minister Jero Wacik as a suspect in an alleged extortion case.Such scandals eroded Yudhoyono’s support among voters.
‘Big Fish’
The KPK is now investigating between one and five other former ministers, said Praja, declining to identify them. It expects to name a “big fish” as a suspect related to regional elections, he said, without giving any time frame.
Jokowi knows that if any of his ministers become targets of KPK probes, it would take up his energy and jeopardize his work, Praja said.
Jokowi himself is “honest,” with the KPK having no evidence of his involvement in any corruption cases, Praja said, responding to comments by the president’s political opposition that the parliament would investigate graft allegations during his time as governor of Jakarta and mayor of the city of Solo.
Boosting Funding
As Jakarta governor, Jokowi left Praja speechless when he accepted all of the agency’s recommendations, Praja said.
As president, Jokowi sees the KPK as being at the same level as his cabinet and wants to meet with its commissioners monthly as part of a commitment to tackle graft that includes increasing the agency’s funding 10-fold, Praja said.
Indonesia ranked 114th among 177 countries and territories in a 2013 Transparency International corruption perceptions report.
There were 141 local bureaucrats tried in 2013 for graft, according to non-government group Indonesia Corruption Watch, which has recommended Jokowi take the full two weeks permitted by law to choose the right ministers.
When the president received the results of the KPK’s assessment of his earlier list of ministerial candidates, Jokowi slapped his forehead and remarked that the outcome gave him a headache, Praja said. The KPK will ask Jokowi to require members of his cabinet, and the ministers’ spouses, to sign an integrity commitment, Praja said.
“Corruption in Indonesia almost always involves the wife,” said Praja. “Better to get a headache at the beginning than a long headache at the end of the day.”
bloomberg.com
Widodo, who was inaugurated Oct. 20, dropped eight of his candidates for the cabinet after an earlier screening by the Corruption Eradication Commission and presented new names this week. The agency known as KPK submitted its assessment of the revised list late yesterday, Andi Widjajanto, an adviser to Widodo, told reporters.
“He has to be supported by clean and clear and great ministers,” Adnan Pandu Praja, the KPK's vice chairman, said in an interview yesterday at the KPK’s radio and television studio in Jakarta, from where it broadcasts coverage of corruption cases.
“Jokowi needs to get assurance from the KPK that his cabinet will not get problems with the KPK.” The unprecedented move by Widodo, known as Jokowi, to ask the KPK to check ministerial candidates shows his commitment to fight graft and avoid the problems faced by Yudhoyono, Praja said.
The formation of the cabinet is the first test for Jokowi as the country’s leader, after winning the presidency on promises to curb corruption, improve the bureaucracy and build infrastructure. Jokowi will inaugurate his ministers Oct. 27, Detik.com reported yesterday, citing Vice-President Jusuf Kalla.
The country’s corruption court in July sentenced the former sports minister in Yudhoyono’s government, Andi Mallarangeng, to four years in jail for slack supervision that led to graft in a ministry project, and in September named the former energy and mining minister Jero Wacik as a suspect in an alleged extortion case.Such scandals eroded Yudhoyono’s support among voters.
‘Big Fish’
The KPK is now investigating between one and five other former ministers, said Praja, declining to identify them. It expects to name a “big fish” as a suspect related to regional elections, he said, without giving any time frame.
Jokowi knows that if any of his ministers become targets of KPK probes, it would take up his energy and jeopardize his work, Praja said.
Jokowi himself is “honest,” with the KPK having no evidence of his involvement in any corruption cases, Praja said, responding to comments by the president’s political opposition that the parliament would investigate graft allegations during his time as governor of Jakarta and mayor of the city of Solo.
Boosting Funding
As Jakarta governor, Jokowi left Praja speechless when he accepted all of the agency’s recommendations, Praja said.
As president, Jokowi sees the KPK as being at the same level as his cabinet and wants to meet with its commissioners monthly as part of a commitment to tackle graft that includes increasing the agency’s funding 10-fold, Praja said.
Indonesia ranked 114th among 177 countries and territories in a 2013 Transparency International corruption perceptions report.
There were 141 local bureaucrats tried in 2013 for graft, according to non-government group Indonesia Corruption Watch, which has recommended Jokowi take the full two weeks permitted by law to choose the right ministers.
When the president received the results of the KPK’s assessment of his earlier list of ministerial candidates, Jokowi slapped his forehead and remarked that the outcome gave him a headache, Praja said. The KPK will ask Jokowi to require members of his cabinet, and the ministers’ spouses, to sign an integrity commitment, Praja said.
“Corruption in Indonesia almost always involves the wife,” said Praja. “Better to get a headache at the beginning than a long headache at the end of the day.”
bloomberg.com
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