Watchdogs skeptical of new BPK leadership

The Jakarta Post – Corruption watchdogs expressed pessimism that the newly elected chairmen of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) would be capable of improving the agency’s performance in monitoring state funds in the coming five years. The chairmen-elect would face difficulties maintaining the BPK as an independent body because of their unfamiliar faces, the watchdogs said.

The House of Representatives had, from the outset, failed to carry out the selection process transparently, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said. “We are worried about the possibility of there having been political bargaining during the selection process,” Emerson Yuntho from ICW told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
“In future, the results of BPK audits could be ‘ordered’ based on requests from their clients.”

House Commission XI overseeing finance and banking affairs elected, through a fit-and-proper test, the seven new leaders of the BPK for the 2009-2014 term. Of the seven, only three are familiar public figures, namely Taufiqurahman Ruki, the former chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Hadi Purnomo, the former director general of taxes, and Rizal Djalil, a legislator and also a member of the House commission.

“And we also question the motives of Taufiqurahman in joining the [BPK] after failing to win a seat at the Regional Representatives Council [DPD] in the April 9 legislative elections,” Emerson said.

A House member from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, Syarief Hasan, could not hide his happiness on Friday at seeing the election of Taufiqurahman, who his party nominated to lead the BPK.

Emerson called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cancel the swearing in of the new KPK leaders and conduct the selection again, transparently.

“We don’t have a choice now. We are asking President Yudhoyono not to endorse the seven,” he said.
The seven candidates are to be brought to the House plenary session on Monday for endorsement.

Meanwhile, Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Teten Masduki was also skeptical of the chairmen-elect, whose competence was lower on average than that of the outgoing leaders,

he said. Thus it was unlikely they could improve the BPK’s performance, he said.

“Many of them are former officials but are not the strong enough to carry out the internal reforms the BPK needs to make it a cleaner and more professional organization,” Teten told the Post.

So far, the BPK has made few achievements and has failed to play a significant role in helping to combat corruption in state institutions, agencies, commissions and enterprises, he said.

“The government and other agencies, including the House of Representatives, have never followed up on the BPK’s annual report of financial leakages in state institutions and state enterprises,” Teten said.

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