Talking Indonesia

Since its formation in 2003, Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has established itself as one of Indonesia’s most trusted and popular institutions, owing to its prosecution of a string of powerful figures for graft. Indicative of the Commission’s strong public support, in 2014 Joko Widodo initially courted then KPK chairperson Abraham Samad as his vice-presidential running mate, although ultimately the pairing did not proceed. Once Jokowi was elected, he also asked the KPK to vet potential members of his cabinet, resulting in the exclusion of several potential ministers. But much has changed over the course of President Jokowi’s five years in office. No invitation was extended to the KPK in 2019 to vet Jokowi’s second term cabinet. The president also agreed in September to amend the KPK’s founding statute, significantly curtailing the KPK’s distinctiveness and independence. What accounts for this shift? And what are the prospects for the KPK and Indonesia’s fight against corruption more broa