Talking Indonesia: the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
Indonesia’s once-feted Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) established itself as one of the most trusted institutions in the country, through its prosecutions of ministers, heads of state agencies, political party figures, and legislators from across the political spectrum, as well as judicial and law enforcement officers.
But the KPK’s many opponents struck a decisive blow in 2019, as a newly re-elected President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo lent his support to amendments to the KPK’s founding statute. The revision of the KPK Law severely undercut the Commission’s autonomy, and was one of the triggers of the #ReformasiDikorupsi protests, the largest wave of student protests in Indonesia since Soeharto’s fall in 1998. Two years on, how have the new amendments affected the KPK’s ability to investigate corruption cases? How has the new set of commissioners performed, having been appointed soon after these amendments were passed? What lies ahead for anti-corruption efforts in Indonesia?
In this Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr. Dave McRae discusses these issues with anti-corruption expert Dr Ahmad Khoirul Umam. Dr. Umam is Managing Director of the Paramadina Public Policy Institute in Jakarta. He wrote his PhD at the University of Queensland on the politics of anti-corruption in Indonesia.
