President wants KPK to remain strong : Denny

Antara News, Thursday, June 24, 2010 14:06 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to remain a strong institution, according to his special adviser for legal affairs, Denny Indrayana.

"The president wants KPK to remain strong," Denny said in a discussion at the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) building in East Jakarta on Thursday.

Denny who is also secretary of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force made the statement to deny allegations voiced by various parties that elements within the power elite were bent on weakening the KPK.

He also said the government had no intention whatsoever to reduce the present powers or authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission.

The government`s wish to keep KPK strong could be perceived from the fact that every time elements in society tried to get the Law on KPK reviewed by the Constitutional Court, the government always assigned one of its ministers to attend the court sessions to defend the law and have it preserved as it was, Denny said.

"When people tried to get the law on KPK amended, the government always did its best to maintain it just as it was," Denny said.

He said attempts to weaken the KPK happened among other things during the public debates on the formulation of the law on the Corruption Court (Tipikor) when certain parties proposed stripping the KPK of its wiretapping and prosecuting powers.

At the time, President Yudhoyono was clearly for letting the KPK retain its wiretapping and prosecuting powers, Denny said.