Round 2 for the KPK...

If the analogy of the ding dong drawn out battle between the KPK and the vested interests of the police, the AGO, and seemingly, the establishment, was that of a boxing match, then it is pretty clear that the KPK has convincingly won round two. It might not yet be the knockout blow, but the police, the AGO, and some of the other central figures within the buaya (crocodile) camp are teetering on the ropes just waiting for that final blow before crumpling to the knees and taking the mandatory count.

The police and the AGO will recover from this little contest of wills, if for no other reason that every functioning democratic state needs a viable police force and a viable, and accountable, AGO. However, this contest will develop into the perfect opportunity for the president, SBY, to reassume the mandate of anti-corruption reformer, and clean out the dead wood from both the ranks of the police and the AGO.

The first to go must be Susno Duaji, he should then be closely followed by the Chief of Police, Bambang Danuri. After that, there are a few people at the AGO who must be sweating a little more profusely than usual, starting with Abdul Hakim Ritonga. The AG himself is not safe in this purge, particularly if the president is worth his salt and takes the opportunity to clean house. The former prosecutor Wisnu Subroto seems the most likely of the former officials from the AGO to see heat.

The fallout form these shenanigans is likely to spread and pick up plenty of casualties along the way. The Witness and Victim Protection Agency is also likely to come under a fair bit more scrutiny as it now seems that there were several requests for protection made to them, including by one of the key players in this farce, Anggodo, the brother of the on the run corruption suspect Anggoro Widjojo.

However, it would also seem that there is much more at stake here as Susno Duaji also played a key role in suppressing the Bank Century case. In fact, it has often been reported that he played a key role in getting funds of certain depositors released in a manner which could conceivably be construed as being in breach of the prevailing regulations. Time and greater analysis of the "facts" will tell on that one though.

The recordings that were played to the Constitutional Court yesterday, were a bombshell of sorts. Yet, to all intents and purposes most of what was revealed had been suspected and been the substance of blogs, newspapers, magazines, and gossip pages for at least the last couple of days. Most interesting is the mention of the president's name and his alleged involvement in signing off on the targeting of Chandra and Bibit.

This is interesting on a number of fronts. The president must still be smarting from the fact that the Constitutional Court gave him a bit of a slap down on the interim law he issued to appoint three new commissioners to the KPK. However, to be linked into the frame of two KPK commissioners, which allegedly included discussion of an assassination of one of those commissioners, is troubling to say the least.

The president has called for a full investigation. Not surprising. However, in light of the tape and the alleged allegations the appointment of a Fact Finding Team (Tim Pencari Fakta / TPF) by the president may be perceived by many as an opportunity to cover one's tracks. Any fact finding team needs to not only be independent but be seen or perceived to be independent as well. The president seemingly has a conflict of interest in appointing the team.

For the president's sake, particularly his legacy on anti-corruption, this needs to turn out to be nothing more than a desperate Anggodo and others participating in a little bit of name dropping in order to convince others that the president is on board with what was going down. Nevertheless, the mere mentioning of the president's name should see plenty of questions being raised about the president and his role in this affair.

The playing of the tapes has seen a positive development or two already. Chandra and Bibit have been released from detention. And, Anggodo has been detained for questioning in order to determine how much of the tape is verifiable as being true, but probably more so in order to uncover the true extent of the conspiracy to frame Chandra and Bibit.

Perhaps the game is now up for the crocodiles and the cicak can now return to a much more peaceful life.