Fighting Corruption: A Test Case for Indonesia ... and Southeast Asia

Recent anti-corruption efforts by Indonesia have once again brought attention to the longstanding issue of corruption. Indonesia established the Corruption Eradication Commission or the KomisiPemberantasanKorupsi (KPK) in 2002. KPK started operating in late 2003. By mid-2009, it has investigated, prosecuted and achieved 100 per cent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery and graft related to government procurements and budgets. KPK’s actions however have drawn fierce opposition from critics, primarily the members of parliament, the police and attorney general’s office who have argued that its powers, including the rights to block accounts, issue travel bans and order suspension from office are too draconian and intrusive.