With President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo unlikely to make an announcement on the fate of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan this week, the political crisis over his candidacy for National Police chief could drag on for weeks, the House of Representatives warning that confirmation hearings for new candidates would have to wait until after its month-long recess starting Feb. 19.

Jokowi has promised to make a decision on the future of Budi'€™s nomination this week, but when pressed about the issue, the President only said that he would make an announcement '€œas soon as possible'€.

The President has said this multiple times, emphasizing that he will have to deal with a confluence of political and legal problems attendant on Budi'€™s nomination.

Jokowi also said he expected a recommendation from the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) on fresh candidates for the vacant police chief position.

Kompolnas has named six candidates for the position, including National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) principal secretary Comr. Gen Suhardi Alius and National Narcotics Agency (BNN) head Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar. The four other candidates are Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, Comr. Gen. Dwi Priyatno, Comr. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno and Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso.

Meanwhile, Gerindra Party lawmaker Desmond J. Mahesa said that should Jokowi decide to drop Budi'€™s nomination, the House could hold a confirmation hearing in mid-March at the earliest.

'€œThe hearing [for a fresh nomination] can only be conducted during the next sitting session,'€ said Desmond, who is the deputy chairman of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which had insisted that Jokowi inaugurate Budi, has begun to relent, and would accept Jokowi dropping the nomination of the three-star police general.

Acting PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said as long as the decision was made in compliance with the 1945 Constitution, his party would respect the President'€™s prerogative to appoint someone else as police chief.

'€œIn line with the statement of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, all matters surrounding the police chief issue are entrusted to President Jokowi and my party will support any decision made in compliance with the Constitution. We abide by the Constitution and won'€™t worsen the situation. We want to create a feeling of safety in society,'€ he said as he accompanied PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to unveil a statue of founding president Sukarno at the party'€™s office in Surakarta, Central Java, on Friday.

He also expressed hope that the police chief issue would not develop into a prolonged national spat.

On Friday, Jokowi is said to have informed House Speaker Setya Novanto of his decision not to inaugurate Budi.

Setya, a Golkar Party politician, however, denied that Jokowi had spoken to him on the matter.

He further said that it would be impossible for the President to propose a new police chief candidate since the House was set to go on recess.

Speaking to reporters before his departure to Surakarta to attend the national congress of the Hanura Party, Jokowi said that he would use the opportunity to speak about Budi'€™s nomination with other party leaders.

'€œAny meeting with anybody will be taken into consideration, whether it is with political parties or the public. We listen to all the voices of the people and public figures,'€ Jokowi said.

Separately, Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto reiterated that Jokowi'€™s decision could be some time coming.

'€œThe pretrial hearing is one of the issues the President takes into consideration. But his timeframe will not only hinge on the pretrial,'€ Andi said.

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