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Budi Gunawan's inauguration in line with mandate of Constitution: IPW
The head of the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW), Neta S
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T
he head of the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW), Neta S.Pane, urged President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to immediately inaugurate Comr.Gen.Budi Gunawan as National Police chief because installing Budi was in line with the mandate of the Constitution following the House of Representatives' approval of his appointment.
'Budi's inauguration has nothing to do with his pretrial motion,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Sunday.
Neta said there were two ways to solve the ongoing conflict between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police. First, he said, the pretrial judge must pronounce either Budi or KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto the winner.
'If both of them are pronounced winners, there's nothing left to question. The KPK will not investigate Budi anymore and the National Police cannot investigate Bambang anymore,' said Neta, adding that such a solution would solve the ongoing crisis between the two institutions.
Last week, Budi filed a pretrial petition saying that he being named a graft suspect by the KPK was illegitimate.
In a move widely seen as retaliation for Budi having been named a suspect, the National Police named Bambang a suspect in a perjury case related to an election-dispute case in 2010.
The second way to resolve the matter, Neta said, was for President Jokowi to be consistent with the constitutional route by immediately inaugurating Budi as the National Police chief because he had won approval from the House, which represented the voice of the people.
Although deemed effective, Neta said the two ways still required the firmness of the pretrial judges and President Jokowi. He said conflict between KPK and the National Police had continued to escalate because the President lacked firmness.
'Jokowi has been bobbed up and down by public opinion,' said Neta. (ebf)(++++)
