TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A researcher at the Anti-Corruption Study Center at Mulawarman University, Herdiansyah Hamzah, believed that the merger of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Ombudsman will be a setback in the efforts to eradicate corruption. He emphasizes that the plan effectively involves the dissolution of the anti-graft agency.

“Not to mention that its legal policy will be more focused on preventive measures. This is exactly what the DPR (House of Representatives) and the government always wanted. Logically, if the authority to take action is amputated, then what's the point of having the KPK,” Herdiansyah said on Thursday, April 4.

According to him, the government should instead restore the authority and independence of the KPK as it was before the revised KPK law was passed.

Even if the merger is conducted by force, he argued that the enforcement function does not need to be eliminated and that the merger should be a matter of function only. “So the institution will not be merged, but the duties and functions of the ombudsman will be integrated into the KPK,” Herdiansyah said.

Alexander Marwata, deputy chairman of the KPK, claimed that his side had not yet received any information about the merger. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that the agency will join the Ombudsman and focus on prevention efforts.

“We have learned from South Korea that [an agency] considered to have too much power is considered to be disruptive, so it was merged with the Ombudsman,” Alexander said at the KPK's Merah Putih Building in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 2. He also said that the decision is up to the government.

Bogat Widyatmoko, Deputy for Political, Legal, Defense, and Security Affairs of the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, denied the merger issue, saying that his side had never discussed the merger.

“The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas has never issued any statement on the merger with the Ombudsman, nor on the abolition of the KPK's prosecutorial function,” Bogat said in an official statement on Thursday, April 4.

HENDRIK YAPUTRA| BAGUS PRIBADI

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