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Poor choice looms for top cop job
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo has been urged to involve the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the countryâs money-laundering watchdog in his choices for a leader for the graft-ridden National Police amid indications that a leading candidate may have been implicated in dubious dealings
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resident Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has been urged to involve the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the country's money-laundering watchdog in his choices for a leader for the graft-ridden National Police amid indications that a leading candidate may have been implicated in dubious dealings.
Unlike in the selection of his Cabinet members in November, Jokowi did not request input from the KPK and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) in the recent appointments of the attorney general and the chiefs of staff for the Air Force and Navy.
Jokowi's decision to skip the screening for the top law-enforcement and military personnel contradicted his pledge made last year of building a clean administration.
Civil society has now demanded that the President carefully rethink his choices after a letter revealed that Jokowi had nominated a problematic candidate, the National Police's education and training division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, on Friday for the House of Representatives to endorse next week.
'Don't repeat the mistake made when appointing the attorney general. Jokowi should involve the KPK and the PPATK to prevent problematic candidates, including those with fat bank accounts, from taking the job,' Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) deputy coordinator Agus Sunaryanto said.
As the letter of nomination could not be verified, State Secretary Pratikno confirmed on Friday that the President might soon submit a candidate to replace National Police chief Gen. Sutarman, who will retire in October.
'There is a possibility,' said Pratikno when asked about the plan. 'But just wait and see how it will progress.'
However, Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto was quick to deny the suggestion. 'Based on existing regulations, there is no immediate need to replace him [Sutarman],' said Andi.
The National Police Commission (Kompolnas), which has the authority to recommend to the President candidates for the position of police chief, has proposed four three-star generals to replace Sutarman. One of them is Budi Gunawan.
According to a source at the Presidential Palace, Budi's nomination was due to his close ties to Jokowi's patron Megawati Soekarnoputri, the supreme leader of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Budi was formerly an adjutant of Megawati when she served as president between 2001 and 2004.
He is also close to Vice President Jusuf Kalla and was widely perceived as his liaison with Megawati when Kalla sought her endorsement to pair with Jokowi in last year's presidential election.
Despite this connection, Budi is deemed controversial as he is among several generals whose bank accounts were suspected by the PPATK to be linked to dubious sources in 2009.
Budi's wealth report, as submitted to the KPK in 2013, has revealed his assets are valued at around
Rp 22.6 billion (US$1.8 million) despite his limited monthly take-home pay of less than Rp 18 million as a three-star general.
Budi, who did not reply to The Jakarta Post's request for an interview on Friday, has previously denied the allegations and said the National Police had confirmed the large bank balances came from legal sources.
Harris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said Jokowi's credibility would crumble should he be forced to nominate a problematic candidate.
'Undoubtedly, the KPK, the directorate general of taxation, the PPATK and National Human Rights Commission should take part in the selection, otherwise Jokowi will be no different to SBY [Jokowi's predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono],' he said.
In response to the plan surrounding his early replacement, Sutarman said that the President had the right and the authority to accelerate his retirement. 'The president has full authority to replace the police chief. I will leave the decision to him and won't comment further,' said Sutarman, who has been widely credited with keeping the police force independent during the recent legislative and presidential elections and successfully maintaining order during the brittle and divisive period.
