Seriousness of corruption should be seen from CPI: KPK

KPK says corruption is still rampant.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Laode M Syarif said corruption in Indonesia should be seen from its Corruption Perception Index (CPI). He revealed that the levels of corruption are different from those of cancer -- stage 1, 2, 3 and 4.

"Corruption is gauged from our corruption perception index," Laode said on the sidelines of the Government Digital Media Festival titled "Transparency for Participation" as part of the World Anti Corruption Day 2018 here on Wednesday.

Laode did not deny that Indonesia is still in the category of corrupt nation. However, in ASEAN Indonesia is already better than Thailand and the Philippines.

"We are the third most corrupt in ASEAN. Therefore I think corruption is still rampant, but whether it is stage 3 or stage 4, we better use the CPI standard rather than the standard which has never been used to measure the seriousness of corruption in a country," he said.

Laode referred to a statement by presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who said that corruption in Indonesia is like stage 4 cancer. Speaking at The World in 2019 Gala Dinner held by the magazine the The Economist in Singapore on Tuesday Prabowo said Indonesia was entering a condition of emergency in corruption as many state officials, lawmakers and court judges had been arrested by KPK.

"The main issues now in Indonesia is rampant corruption, which in my opinion is already like cancer of stage 4," Prabowo.

On the contrary, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said here on Tuesday progress has been made in the fight against corruption in the country. Indonesia's CPI rose from 20 in 1998, to 37 in 2017 or the fastest increase in the world, Jokowi pointed to a report by KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo.

"From the worst in ASEAN , now we have a CPI at 37. We deserve to be proud. Therefore, no one should say that corruption in Indonesiais like cancer in stage 4," Jokowi said.

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