In a surprise decision that ended weeks of speculation, President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday pro-posed Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo
as the sole candidate for the next National Police chief.
JP/R. BERTO WEDHATAMA
The
announcement came only hours after Timur was promoted to the rank of a
three-star commissioner general, a necessary post for police chief
candidates, from inspector general. He has been assigned to lead the
force’s Security Maintenance Body, leaving his position as Jakarta
Police chief.
“The proposal [of Timur’s candidacy] has just
been delivered this afternoon,” House of Representatives Speaker
Marzuki Alie said Monday evening. He added the legislators would soon
conduct a “fit-and-proper” test to decide if they should endorse or
reject Timur’s candidacy.
Timur declined to comment on
circulating rumors of his possible nomination by Yudhoyono following
his promotion ceremony. “Right now I will focus on carrying out my
duties here as the new Security Maintenance Body chief,” he said.
His
nomination ended weeks of speculation over who is going to replace
current chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri in leading the police force.
He
was only briefly tipped as the police chief due to his alleged close
relationship with Yudhoyono. They were both deployed to Bosnia in a
peacekeeping mission in the 1990s.
Other generals tipped for
the top position at the force were General Monitoring Inspectorate
Comr. Gen. Nanan Soekarna, National Police chief detective Comr. Gen.
Ito Sumardi, Comr. Gen. Imam Sujarwo, head of police training and
educational institutions, and North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen.
Oegroseno.
Imam, earlier reported to have been favored by Yudhoyono, had been widely tipped to lead the police.
His recent promotion to a three-star general is believed to be aimed at paving the way for his candidacy.
The
police chief Monday denied allegations that the promotions of Timur and
Imam were ordered by Yudhoyono, saying it was “an internal affair of
the National Police”.
Several NGOs grouped under the Coalition
of Civil Society criticized Yudhoyono for not being transparent in
nominating the police chief. While praising the government for asking
the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the National Commission
for Human Rights and the Financial Transaction and Analysis Reports
Centre (PPATK) to assess the track records of police chief candidates,
results were not made public.
“The verifications carried out by
the KPK, human rights commission and PPATK are in fact very crucial,”
the group said in a statement.
Haris Azhar from the Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence Commission said that the City Police
under Comr. Gen. Timur had encountered trauma as Timur was the West
Jakarta Police chief during the 1998 Trisakti shootings, which claimed
the lives of four University of Trisakti students.
