PaG 12 - Political Revenge Downgrading Indonesia’s KPK From Hero to Villain

Aug 23, 2026

Political Revenge? Downgrading Indonesia’s KPK From Hero to Villain analyzes how legislative and political measures since 2019 have constrained Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), undermining its independence and making it vulnerable to interference. The commission created under Law 30/2002 was designed to investigate, indict, and prosecute corruption with broad autonomy. After amendments enacted by the People’s Representative Council, a supervisory body and civil-servant status shift reduce autonomy, increasing risks to credibility. The article links these changes to election-era accusations that the “new” KPK functions under political coercion.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

KPK’s establishment and legal basis (Law 30/2002)

2019 amendments reducing independence

Election-era accusations and reputational decline

Politics and Governance 2024 • Volume 12 • Article 7907 [https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.7907](https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.7907) ARTICLE Open Access Journal Political Revenge? Downgrading Indonesia’s KPK From Hero to Villain David Price Faculty of Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University, Australia Correspondence: David Price ([david.price@cdu.edu.au](david.price@cdu.edu.au)) Submitted: 29 November 2023 Accepted: 2 February 2024 Published: 27 March 2024 Issue: This article is part of the issue “Indonesian Heroes and Villains: National Identity, Politics, Law, and Security” edited by Nathan Franklin (Charles Darwin University) and Hans Hägerdal (Linnaeus University), fully open access at [https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.i380](https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.i380) Abstract The importance of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi [KPK]), has once again been brought into focus during the 2024 presidential election campaign period when politics and corruption collide. This article suggests that legislative and political actions since 2019 to the KPK’s purpose and structure severely limit its capacity and independence making it susceptible to greater political interference and coercion. The KPK was established by Law 30/2002, as a response to and recognition of rampant corruption throughout the governmental, political and public sectors, business communities, and society in general, which became common practice during President Suharto’s New Order Regime. The KPK’s commission encompasses conducting investigations, indictments, and prosecutions. However, in late 2019, the People’s Representative Council enacted amending legislation to weaken its authority and ability to operate independently. Crucial legislative changes included creating a government‐appointed supervisory body overseeing the KPK’s internal operations and changing KPK employee status from independent agents to public servants. These two provisions alone seriously weaken the KPK’s autonomy and create the risk of turning it into a politically controlled auxiliary state agency. In some respects, KPK has become a victim of its own successes, having achieved convictions of senior ministers, politicians, government officials, and business leaders, which in turn has produced enemies. Without political protection, the KPK faces the prospect of not only becoming, in essence, a nonentity but also facing further deterioration of its credibility and authority. Keywords corruption; criminal investigations; Indonesia; KPK; presidential candidates; presidential elections © 2024 by the author(s), licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4 .0 International License (CC BY) . 1 1. Introduction In the context of this issue of Politics and Governance on the theme of “Indonesian Heroes and Villains: National Identity, Politics, Law, and Security,” this article examines two related events in the fairly short history of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi [KPK]), which are in the process of changing the generally perceived status of the KPK. The two events are the introduction of amending legislation in 2019, which significantly curtailed the KPK’s independence of operation in combatting corruption, and the 2024 Presidential and general elections, in which the “new” KPK has been accused of political interference. These two events are instrumental in deconstructing the reputation the KPK established in the first decade of its existence as somewhat of a fearless and successful campaigner against entrenched corruption. The KPK faces the prospect, as already being heralded in the local media, of not only becoming, in essence, a nonentity but also the loss of its former high standing both domestically and internationally—thereby declining from something of hero status to minor villain status. Indonesia’s KPK was established by Law 30/2002 as a response to and recognition of rampant

FAQs

What major changes weakened the KPK after 2019?

Amending legislation curtailed the KPK’s independence by creating a government-appointed supervisory body over its internal operations and changing KPK employees from independent agents to public servants.

How was the KPK originally designed to operate?

Under Law 30/2002, the KPK was established as a state agency with authority to conduct investigations, indictments, and prosecutions independently and free from influence.

Why does the article describe a decline from “hero” to “villain”?

It argues that without political protection the KPK risks loss of credibility and authority, and that election-related political interference allegations frame the KPK as controlled rather than fearless.

Aug 23, 2026

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