T

he National Police Commission (Kompolnas) began its assessment for the next National Police chief on Thursday, by interviewing one of the strongest candidates: the force'€™s criminal investigations division chief, Comr. Gen. Sutarman.

Sutarman, along with National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar, underwent the six-hour interview with six Kompolnas members at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

Kompolnas member Adrianus Meliala, however, declined to confirm that the meetings were held to find the successor for retiring National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, who will step down in August. '€œWe have the task of assisting the police in directing their policies; thus, we asked for their suggestions. What are their visions and missions? How do they see the problems [surrounding the force]?,'€ he said after the meetings.

Adrianus later implied that interviewers had sought confirmation from the two three-star generals of the findings in a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) report pertaining to their human rights records. '€œWe mentioned that,'€ he said.

Previously, Kompolnas had asked Komnas HAM, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction and Report Analysis Centre (PPATK) to assess the human rights and financial records of all 11 National Police hopefuls. The last two institutions have not as yet submitted their reports.

Analysts have predicted that Sutarman would end up in fierce competition with Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno for the top job.

Sutarman, a senior general at the highest level of the National Police, is known for his resistance against the KPK.

The 55-year-old general openly opposed the KPK investigation into Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who stands accused of pillaging a Rp 200 billion project when he was head of the National Police Traffic Corps.

Putut, on the other hand, was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s adjutant in 2009. The 51-year-old general led regional police forces in Banten and West Java before being appointed to Jakarta last October.

Putut, however, must be promoted to three-star general (commissioner general) in order to be eligible to lead the force of around 550,000 personnel.

Aside from them, other generals vying for the top position include National Police education chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, the police'€™s operational assistant, Insp. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, and the police'€™s development and law chief, Insp. Gen. Anton Setiadi.

Kompolnas is slated to interview Badrodin and Anton on Friday, while Adrianus said the police commission would complete the '€œmeetings'€ with all 11 candidates by next week.