Baca berita dengan sedikit iklan, klik di sini
The Secretary-General of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Hasto Kristiyanto has just been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). He is accused of involvement in the bribe paid by Harun Masiku to Wahyu Setiawan, a commissioner of the 2017-2022 General Election Commission (KPU). Harun bribed Wahyu to smooth the way for him to become an interim replacement member of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 period. The KPK got wind of the bribe, resulting in Wahyu being arrested and then jailed for seven years.
Baca berita dengan sedikit iklan, klik di sini
Harun fled before being arrested. KPK investigators claimed that they have evidence that the money for the bribe came from Hasto. Investigators, who have had proof of the involvement of Hasto for five years, almost arrested him in South Jakarta. However, because the KPK leadership under Firli Bahuri was afraid of President Joko Widodo and the PDI-P, they did not name Hasto a suspect.
Baca berita dengan sedikit iklan, klik di sini
Baca berita dengan sedikit iklan, klik di sini
At that time, Jokowi and the PDI-P were still close. As a ‘party official,’ Jokowi was still taking orders from PDI-P General Chair Megawati Sukarnoputri. The drama over the extension of the presidential term and the selection of the 2024 vice-presidential candidate led to strains between Jokowi and the PDI-P. Matters came to a head when Jokowi declared his support for Prabowo Subianto and proposed his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as the vice-presidential candidate.
The rift led to political hostility. The five new KPK commissioners under Setyo Budiyanto were selected by Jokowi. Only one week after their inauguration, they named Hasto a suspect in bribery and for aiding Harun Masiku’s escape.
Hasto is now threatening to expose corruption by people close to him in the administration. He began to fight back when he no longer had any backers or room for maneuver. However, regardless of his legal situation, if Hasto has real evidence, he should publish it. Corruption by a president is important in order to ensure that no leader feels he or she is above the law.
But Hasto is no different from Jokowi, who was reportedly always using law enforcement officers to hold his political opponents hostage. Therefore, Hasto should be arrested immediately because Jokowi’s misdeeds would then also be exposed.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a network of global investigative journalists, has just included Jokowi’s name as a finalist for the 2024 most corrupt president. Of course, the OCCRP does not have evidence of any corruption by Jokowi because this ‘award’ is only a qualitative survey. If Hasto really has evidence of corruption by Jokowi, and the KPK follows it up, he will have done a service by showing that Indonesia is a nation that upholds legal supremacy.
We are waiting for the KPK to have courage this time. And we are also waiting to see if Hasto carries out his threat. President Prabowo Subianto will of course support him. To voters and his supporters, he is a president who speaks clearly, passionately, and in a way that frightens corrupters. If Hasto goes to jail and Jokowi is put on trial, it will prove that Prabowo is a president who truly is an ‘Asian tiger.’
Foto 
