IDNAround – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan stated that the dropping number of the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) anti-graft raids does not mean worsening performance but rather a better prevention system.
“Prosecution drops because the system is getting better. People can’t be corrupt, they can’t steal, that’s good,” Luhut said on the sideline event of the National Corruption Prevention Strategy at the KPK Building, South Jakarta, Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
He argued that even though the number of prosecutions against corruption practices decreases, the KPK’s corruption prevention sector actually strengthens which is evident from rising savings and tax revenues by around 47 percent. State revenues from other sectors, such as palm oil, have also increased due to the prevention work.
“See how many hundreds of trillions are saved [from KPK’s preventive programs],” Luhut remarked.
The KPK’s performance under the leadership of Firli Bahuri has been under the public spotlight due to the decrease in the number of corruption busts. In 2022, the anti-graft agency only conducted 10 sting operations, while in 2019 under Agus Rahardjo’s leadership, 21 sting operations were launched.
On the other hand, the decline in the number of prosecutions coincided with the drop in public trust in the institution. A pollster Indonesian Survey Institute showed that the public trust in KPK in April 2023 was at 64 percent, lower from February 2023 at 68 percent.
Luhut further encouraged the public to see the KPK’s performance more thoroughly. He said KPK has three functions, namely education, prevention, and prosecution. By far, he opined that people are more focused on the prosecution so that when the number is low, KPK is deemed failed to carry out its duties. Luhut also said that eradicating corruption through prosecution is an outdated strategy. The modern one is when fewer people are arrested but higher savings are made. “That’s the success story,” he said.
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