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Legislators want change in police institution
The sluggish pace of reform in the police force has led to proposals by legislators and analysts that the police chief be appointed from outside the police institution
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he sluggish pace of reform in the police force has led to proposals by legislators and analysts that the police chief be appointed from outside the police institution.
House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie said Sunday he welcomed the idea of selecting a professional from outside the police to lead the force, which is infamous for its corruption and has come under public scrutiny over alleged corruption scandals.
“It should be considered if President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] and the House agree that a police chief does not necessarily come from the police force,” Marzuki was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
The proposal was first voiced by Golkar Party legislator Nudirman Munir of the House’s law commission. He said the lethargic pace of reform in the police and police brutality reflected the need for urgent change in police leadership.
Marzuki said the government could implement the proposal by revising an article in the 2002 Police Law that stipulates that the police chief should be an active police officer. A regulation-in-lieu-of-law could also be issued to implement such a policy during an emergency situation, Marzuki said.
“The government should decide whether the current situation can be considered an emergency.”
Retired police officer Bambang Widodo Umar, who is now a police expert and lecturer at the Indonesian Institute of Police Science (PTIK), said the President had the freedom to pick whoever he believed was best to lead the police.
“The post of police chief should be considered similar to that of a minister. They’re all assistants to the President,” Bambang said Sunday.
He said the top-level organizational structure of the National Police should reflect those of ministries. The highest career post level in a ministry is the secretary-general while a minister is a political post, which can be filled by anybody chosen by the President.
University of Indonesia administrative law expert Irman Putra Sidin echoed Bambang’s opinion.
“The current police law limits a citizen’s right to be police chief. It blocks the President’s constitutional right to choose his subordinates and it also impedes the parliament’s constitutional right to recommend any citizens they believe suitable to fill the role of police chief,” he said.
He cited the Attorney General’s Office as an example of a law enforcement institution whose organizational structure reflected a real civilian institution.
Former attorney general Marzuki Darusman was also a politician while Abdul Rahman Saleh was a retired justice when selected by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to be attorney general.
House of Representatives deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan agreed to the suggestion and said he preferred that retired police generals fill the post “if the President fails to find suitable candidates from within the institution.”
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto rejected the proposal, saying only active police officers should be allowed to lead the force “because outsiders don’t understand what’s really going on inside the institution.”
“Such a system has been implemented in developed countries. But Indonesia is not ready,” he said.
