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Watchdog slams ex-graft convict’s second chance in DPD race
The Constitutional Court ordered a revote in the legislative election for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) seat in West Sumatra with the inclusion of former graft convict and former DPD speaker Irman Gusman on the candidate list after the poll body previously rejected his participation in the February poll.
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Former Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker Irman Gusman reads his defense statement during a hearing on Feb. 8, 2017 at the Jakarta Corruption Court. He stands accused of accepting bribes from a sugar importer. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
The Constitutional Court ruling that paves the way for former graft convict Irman Gusman to run for a Regional Representatives Council (DPD) seat in a legislative election revote in West Sumatra may set a bad precedent in future elections, the graft watchdog has said.
Egi Primayogha of the antigraft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) called the ruling “disappointing” as it facilitated a former corruption convict to run and potentially be elected for a public position.
“The most important thing for a public official is having integrity. Irman, who was convicted for corruption, is not suitable to hold such a position once again,” said the ICW political corruption division head on Wednesday.
Irman, who was then a DPD speaker, was convicted by the Jakarta Corruption Court in 2017 for accepting a bribe in exchange for securing an additional sugar import quota for a businessman. The court initially sentenced him to four and a half years in prison, but the Supreme Court accepted his appeal and cut the prison sentence to three years.
The 2017 General Election Law, supported by a Constitutional Court ruling issued in 2019, requires graft convicts found guilty of corruption to serve a five-year probation period after they are released from prison before running for public office. The five-year gap only applies to individuals convicted of criminal acts that carry a five-year prison sentence or more.
On Monday, the court ruled in favor of Irman, ordering the West Sumatra office of the General Elections Commission (KPU) to include the ex-convict’s name on the candidate list of the revote for the DPD election in the province.
Read also: Ex-graft convict gets second chance in DPD race after revote ruling
