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V footage of police officers who knelt on the floor to thank God, or danced in jubilation, in response to the South Jakarta District Court'€™s decision that let their general avoid a criminal investigation launched by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would break the hearts of those who long for a corruption-free Indonesia and have pinned lots of hope on President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to make it come true.

But what else they can do about it? Like us, everybody has to respect the court'€™s decision, no matter how ridiculous the legal standing of the pretrial petition filed by National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan to challenge the KPK'€™s move to name him a graft suspect was in the first place. No less a figure than former Supreme Court justice Djoko Sarwono has branded the decision groundless and therefore asked the KPK to ignore the decision.

For politicians from both the Great Indonesia Coalition and the Red-and-White Coalition, the controversial decision has allowed them to put pressure on Jokowi to install Budi as the new police chief. In fact, Jokowi himself nominated Budi and repeatedly promised to respect the due process of law when delaying Budi'€™s inauguration one month ago.

Poor Jokowi. He will have to fight the grand coalition if he dares to dismiss the court ruling, although in the presidential system of government he can do just that. The political repercussions coming from his having the courage to drop Budi'€™s nomination anyway would be serious as some lawmakers have started to talk about taking action against the President for violation of the Constitution.

The signals President Jokowi has been sending related to the Budi case have been confusing.

He initially mandated a nine-strong independent team to advise him on how to settle the ongoing conflict between the police and the KPK, the third since 2009. He reportedly talked to the team leader, Syafii Maarif, about his decision not to inaugurate Budi. When the KPK told Jokowi of threats leveled against its investigators, staff and their families, the President immediately ordered the arrest of the intimidators.

Last week it looked like Jokowi would make a bold decision that ran counter to the wishes of the House, when the National Police Commission submitted a list of new candidates for the police chief position to the President.

On Saturday, Jokowi held talks with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, to whom he owes his rise to the presidency, and with other Great Indonesia Coalition leaders. Given the fact that the coalition is the supporter of Budi, the reconciliatory mood of the meeting augured Jokowi'€™s inconsistency.

And the President'€™s move to Bogor, some 60 kilometers south of Jakarta, on the decision day for Budi, implied Jokowi'€™s absence was a graceful exit from a game that he started without a clear plan; one month of energy and time wasted.

For sure, however, if Jokowi installs Budi, it will mark the beginning of a fight between the President and his own people and conscience.