More Effective Law Needed In War Against Corruption: ICW

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The legal policy package, to be issued by the government should give more effective instrument to fight rampant corruption in the country, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said.

"The legal policy package to be issued should be one that would strengthen law enforcement to eradicate corruption," Lalola Easter, a legal analyst of the ICW, said here on Wednesday.

Lalola said draft revision of the Law on Corruption (Tipikor) has long been included in the national legislation program of the House of Representatives but it has never been placed in the priority program.

Earlier, Presidential spokesman Johan Budi  said the government was drafting a legal reform package, partly aiming at strengthening law enforcement against corruption.

The legal reform package is now in the final phase of preparation at the ministerial  and state agency level, Johan said.

Many have seen Indonesian law enforcement is weakening especially against corruption.

The court verdicts on corruption suspects are more lenient, and former corruption convicts are allowed to hold a leading position at political parties.

Some political parties even named former corruption convicts as candidates to contest elections for heads of regional or district administrations.

The government regulation No.99 of 2012  on requirements and procedure of implementation of tights of prison inmates, which  is also to be revised, is feared to drop the clause on the requirements  to be met for "justice collaborator".

At the same time, the discourse  on revision of the Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was suspected to be one of attempts to weaken the drive against corruption. (WDY)