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Last week, the justice commission at the House of Representative confirmed Abraham Samad as the new head of the Corruption Eradication Commission. His appointment was unexpected, considering that the front-runner was Bambang Widjojanto, who was believed to have the blessing of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration. Instead, Abraham won in a landslide.

While many in the media have expressed their support for Abraham’s appointment, others are suspicious. In an interview with Inilah.com, Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) politician Martin Hutabarat expressed his puzzlement about the mechanisms of the vote.

The public has a right to be skeptical of Abraham’s promise that he would resign in a year should the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) fail to do its job. They need point only to a history of unfulfilled promises by Yudhoyono’s administration to eradicate corruption.

Public trust in the KPK has steadily declined after a string of failures to convict corrupt officials and to bring high-profile fugitives to justice. In August, the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) said that the public’s trust of the KPK had declined from 58.3 percent in October 2005 to 41.6 percent in June 2011.

While the drop was not as drastic as the one for the legislature, political parties and other law enforcement agencies, it is imperative for the KPK, as the agency tasked with fighting corruption, to halt and reverse its falling numbers. This will give it the political capital necessary for the antigraft commissioners to maintain their integrity and do their job. Without public support, it would be easy for corrupt politicians to dismantle the commission once and for all.

The question, then, is how to reverse the popularity decline. Perhaps we need to go back to Abraham’s vow, as it poses an interesting question: By what standard will his leadership of the KPK be judged?

Perhaps the first thing that the KPK should do is to become more systematic about tackling corruption. In the past, it seems that instead of attempting to build strong cases against corrupt officials, the agency has just followed the whims of the public and politicians, prosecuting cases because they are getting lots of media attention or because of political pressure.

With the growing demand for quick results and media sound bites, the KPK has lurched from one public relations disaster to another.

While the KPK has had notable successes, it is the cases that are not prosecuted that raise questions about who is minding the store. As a result, the KPK is in danger of appearing unfocused and susceptible to influence. Rather than a commission to eradicate corruption, the KPK could well become an institution to empower it.

The KPK, regardless of who leads it, must be independent and act according to the law, difficult as that may be. It must regain momentum and be resolute in its work, even if the government isn’t. The astonishing spectacle of a corrupt institution choosing who will investigate it laughably points to this.

Unlike the government, which clearly does not have the will or the know-how to build community support that is authentic and in touch with the aspirations of the majority, the KPK needs to stand up and ride out the storm. It needs to create its own network of broad-based community support, not one manipulated by the government.

To what degree will Abraham represent the aspirations of the people to see justice done in real corruption cases that strike at the heart of the nation’s justice and democracy? Asked about his political and religious convictions, Abraham gave a far from satisfactory response: “I’m just average.”

The answer lacks courage. If it is any indication of his leadership, it does not bode well for the future of the KPK.

What is required is someone who is prepared to prosecute hard and politically fraught cases with a determination and ruthlessness that puts the government and lawmakers on notice. It must be willing to take on the cases that involve those who are doing the most damage to the country and the livelihood of ordinary people, especially those most in need and vulnerable.

Abraham must be prepared to bite the hand that feeds him. If he doesn’t, the commission’s powers will be inexorably eroded and democracy and civil rights will be at risk as the country becomes even more the plaything of robber barons and their clans posing as a legitimate representative government.

The media, lawmakers and the administration can easily make this happen by continuing to distract both the KPK and the public with demands for more superficial investigations that are really just sideshows to the main event. The government and lawmakers have already demonstrated that they are unwilling to commit to corruption eradication because it is clearly not in their interest to do so. Their power and livelihoods are at stake.

So too, at this moment in time, is the effectiveness of the KPK. The ball is in Abraham’s court. And the people will remind him of his promise.

 
Yohanes Sulaiman is a lecturer at the Indonesian National Defense University (Unhan). Phillip Turnbull is a theology teacher based in Jakarta.