TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Agus Raharjo is hopeful that Indonesia could see less corruption, which is indicated by the Corruption Perception Index (CPI). “I hope we could score 50 [points] at the end of our tenure as commissioners,” he said Wednesday in Jakarta.

Agus took office as the KPK chief in 2015 and will end his tenure in 2019. According to him, Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index has relatively increased. Transparency International release shows that the latest Indonesia’s CPI score was 36 on a scale from 10 to 100.

Before the establishment of the KPK, Agus said, Indonesia’s CPI score was only 19. In contrast, Malaysia had already hit 50 in the same period. While Thailand had reached 38. Agus considered that Indonesia’s CPI has been relatively improving, climbed from 19 to 36. However, he did not deny that Indonesia had once stagnated at 32 for two years straight. He considered Indonesia has a better trend compared to Malaysia and Thailand.

Agus said that Malaysia and Thailand’s CPIs are relatively stable. Malaysia hovers around 48-50 whereas Thailand sits around 37-38. He is optimistic that the KPK’s corruption prevention programs will reduce the number of corruption at national level.

According to Agus, government agencies need to conduct self-assessments to detect potential corruption at their respective office.

The Corruption Perception Index is a composite index measuring perceptions of businesses and experts on corruption at public sector, namely corruption by civil servants, state officials and politicians. Transperncy International has been releasing the Corruption Perception Index since 1995. The index is used by many countries to capture perceptions of corruption as compared with other countries.

DANANG FIRMANTO