T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) faced the first challenge in its investigation into graft suspect and National Police chief hopeful Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan after a police general and a mid-ranking officer failed to attend a questioning session at the antigraft body'€™s headquarters on Monday.

Monday'€™s grilling was the first round of questioning scheduled by the KPK since it named Budi a graft suspect on Tuesday last week, one day before the House of Representatives held a confirmation hearing for his nomination.

The officers'€™ no-show increases the political pressure on the investigation into Budi, who was named a graft suspect in relation to bank accounts in his name containing billions of rupiah allegedly connected to bribes and gratuities. The government has expressed no intention to withdraw Budi'€™s nomination.

KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha confirmed the absence of National Police general crime investigations director, Brig. Gen. Herry Prastowo, and Sr. Comr. Ibnu Isticha of the National Police. '€œOf the three witnesses scheduled for questioning today, only Insp. Gen. [ret] Syahtria Sitepu showed up,'€ Priharsa said at the KPK headquarters.

Syahtria and Herry were issued with a travel ban by the antigraft body last week along with Budi and Budi'€™s son Muhammad Herviano Widyatama, one of the beneficiaries of his father'€™s allegedly illicit money, and Budi'€™s assistant Iie Tiara, who is also a police officer.

Travel bans on witnesses are usually followed by graft charges, but Priharsa refused to comment on this possibility. Priharsa also did not elaborate on the roles that Herry and Ibnu are suspected of playing in Budi'€™s alleged crime.

'€œHerry said that he was currently abroad, which is why he could not obey the summons, while we received no explanation from Ibnu for his absence,'€ Priharsa said, adding that KPK investigators would reschedule another questioning session for the pair in the near future.

Having named Budi his sole candidate for National Police chief, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo postponed on Friday the three-star general'€™s inauguration for an undecided period after the KPK named him a suspect for graft allegedly occurring between 2004 and 2005.

Immediately after postponing Budi'€™s inauguration, Jokowi dismissed National Police chief Gen. Sutarman and assigned deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, who is widely known as a close associate of Budi, to take charge temporarily.

Many have predicted that the antigraft body will face difficulties in its investigation into Budi, who was endorsed by all political parties at the House of Representatives during his confirmation hearing.

The internal '€œcleansing'€ continued the same day, the National Police replacing its detective division chief, Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, who is known to have close ties with KPK leaders, with Insp. Gen. Budi Waseso '€” a subordinate of Budi who heads education and training for the high-ranking officer division.

State Secretary Pratikno, who earlier refused to comment on the matter, said on Monday, '€œClearly, we should not leave someone in an uncertain situation for too long.'€

'€œWe [all] need certainty as soon as possible,'€ he added, saying that legal certainty would be good for everyone, including Budi himself and the government.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno urged the KPK to respect the government by bringing a swift resolution to Budi'€™s case.

'€œTherefore, if the KPK has strong evidence, I would like to see it process [the case] as soon as possible, whatever the result is,'€ Tedjo said, citing several examples of KPK investigations that have been ongoing for a long time, including the Bank Century case.

'€œThe public must also play its part in pushing the KPK to quickly solve the case,'€ he added.

Tedjo said, however, that it was the prerogative of Jokowi whether to name a new candidate.

• Antigraft body to reschedule questioning
• Uncertainty must be resolved as soon as possible: State secretary