Independent Agency Lost in Action: What We Learned from Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) During the Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: This research aims to assess the performance of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) during the Pandemic Period and examine the prospects of independent agencies in Indonesia as reflected in the KPK case. Method: This normative legal research uses secondary data, including primary and secondary legal materials. Several approaches are used, such as statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. Data was collected through literature reviews and then analyzed using a descriptive-qualitative technique. Conclusion: The findings reveal that KPK has compiled several programs and task forces during the pandemic to oversee the COVID-19 budget. However, there was a decrease in performance compared to the previous year regarding the number of 'hand-catching operations' and the target for eradicating corruption. The number of state losses increased throughout 2020, in contrast to the previous period. This condition is due to external factors, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, which impacts limited mobility, and external policies that affect the KPK's independence, such as revising the KPK Law and the policy on the transfer of employment status. Many internal factors have also disrupted the KPK's focus on dealing with corruption. Weak organizational leadership and polemics on the national insight test were among them, leading to the dismissal of several KPK employees. Given these circumstances, Indonesia has become an unfavorable environment for state institutional reform. Especially for independent state institutions such as the KPK, power actors frequently intervene in and politicize.