[2] Since its establishment, the KPK has detained and prosecuted hundreds of corrupt politicians and businessman alike including high profile individuals.

[3][4] However, in 2019, the Indonesian legislature passed a bill removing many of the KPK's powers and making its employees civil servants, effectively ending its independence.

[7][8] Since then, the commission has engaged in significant work, revealing and prosecuting cases of corruption in crucial government bodies reaching as high as the Supreme Court.

For example, in reporting on the activities of the KPK, one foreign observer noted that the commission has "confronted head-on the endemic corruption that remains as a legacy of President Suharto’s 32-year-long kleptocracy.

Since it started operating in late 2003, the commission has investigated, prosecuted and achieved a 100-percent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery and graft related to government procurements and budgets.

[15] A large number of the solid reports informed the KPK of alleged cases of corruption and misuse of budget funds by government agencies at national and regional levels.

[15] On the other hand, the success of the KPK in using controversial tools like warrantless wiretaps, and its focus on high-level targets like "businessmen, bureaucrats, bankers, governors, diplomats, lawmakers, prosecutors, police officials and other previously untouchable members of Indonesian society", has led to something of a backlash.

Susno's comment, as it turned out, quickly backfired because the image of a cicak standing up to a buaya (similar to David and Goliath imagery) immediately had wide appeal in Indonesia.

[20] In September two KPK deputy chairmen Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, who had been suspended in July, were arrested on charges of extortion and bribery.

The following day, during a hearing at the Indonesian Constitutional Court, dramatic tapes were played of bugged phone conversations apparently revealing a conspiracy to undermine the KPK.

These included a halt to the prosecution of Bibit and Chandra, punishment for officials guilty of wrongdoing and the establishment of a state commission to implement institutional reforms of law enforcement agencies.

His speech caused confusion among Team of Eight members and provoked a protest from activists who symbolically threw in their towels as a way of criticising what they judged to be the president's unconvincing response.

[28] The arrest of KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto by Indonesian Police on 23 January 2015 revived the "gecko vs crocodile" dispute.

The arrest was made after the commission declared the parliament-approved candidate for the chief of Indonesian Police Budi Gunawan a suspect in a gratification case on 14 February, just days before his scheduled inauguration.

Immediately after the news of his arrest broke, various groups demonstrating in front of KPK headquarters in South Jakarta to show support for the organization.

[33][34] A series of mass demonstrations led by students took place in major cities of Indonesia from 23 September 2019 to protest against the KPK Law revision, as well as several bills.