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Abraham Samad May Protect Hard-Line Islamic Politicians
The Jakarta Post
The surprise appointment of lawyer Abraham Samad as the new chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has placed his past political activism under the spotlight.
A previous association with an Islamic hard-liner group has raised concerns over Abraham's potential inclination to politicians holding similar ideologies.
Abraham, a Makassar-based rights activist, was an advocate and head of an investigation division with the Preparatory Committee for Islamic Sharia Enforcement (KPPSI), which is linked to Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and Laskar Jundullah, the latter a paramilitary unit affiliated to al-Qaeda.
"In terms of fighting corruption, he might protect certain political parties with similar ideologies to his own, including the Prosperous Justice Party [PKS]," Jamil Mubarok of the Indonesia Transparency Society (MTI) told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Abraham, 45, was previously praised for being a relatively clean candidate with no links to corruption and was known by Makassar people as adopting a stern stance in the fight against corruption.
Pledging to resign in the event that he failed to combat high-profile corruption in his first year in office, he garnered 55 votes from lawmakers to be elected as one of the new four leaders, in a voting session at the House of Representatives on Friday. He also singled out frontrunner Bambang Widjojanto and incumbent Busyro Muqoddas in championing the chairman election.
Abraham, mostly perceived an outsider in the race, might have appeared less threatening than KPK advisor Abdullah Hehamahua, who had stated that his life's mission was "to die in the hands of corrupt officers", or the former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chief Yunus Husein, who had claimed of having support from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
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