JAKARTA: An observer has questioned the police's commitment in investigating an alleged violation by the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the 2008 presidential election law.

"As long as the system puts the police directly under the presidency, we can't expect any sort of integrity when it comes to the question of whether the police have the courage to investigate an allegation that could point at the president himself," security observer Bambang Widodo Umar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"The system does not allow them to do so."

He added that in developed countries, the police were not under the direct supervision of the president, but under the home or defense ministries, to avoid conflicts of interest or abuse of power.

The police have pledged to probe the case, but no progress has been made so far.

The Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) has filed a complaint with the police over the recent meeting of the Democratic Party at the Jakarta Fairgrounds on May 29, two days before the election campaign officially kicked off.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira has said there was no reason for the police not to follow up on the report.

"We'll stay neutral in dealing with the case," he added. -JP

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