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Jokowi silent despite decision
Blind solidarity: Police officers kneel and kiss the ground at the South Jakarta District Court to express their joy after sole judge Sarpin Rizaldi declared that the graft suspect status given by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to National Police chief candidate Comr
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span class="inline inline-center">Blind solidarity: Police officers kneel and kiss the ground at the South Jakarta District Court to express their joy after sole judge Sarpin Rizaldi declared that the graft suspect status given by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan was illegal. (JP/DON)
After a controversial court decision on Monday invalidated the graft suspect status of National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has not yet announced whether he will inaugurate the minion of Megawati Soekarnoputri, Jokowi's patron and the supreme leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Jokowi previously said he would not issue any policy regarding Budi's fate until after he knew the outcome of the pretrial proceeding and that he had already prepared a new candidate for the top cop job.
But his inaction following the verdict has added to a month-long uncertainty that has involved a leadership crisis in the National Police, escalating attempts to undermine the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and a standoff with powerful elites in his alliance who demanded the immediate inauguration of Budi.
After summoning Budi to the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java, located around 70 kilometers from Jakarta, Jokowi gathered his Cabinet members until late for what he called an 'evaluation' meeting.
No officials were willing to disclose details of the meeting between Jokowi and Budi or to say whether the President had prepared a set of policies to resolve the leadership crisis in the police during the Cabinet meeting.
National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, who attended the Cabinet meeting, said he did not know about the discussion between the two, but confirmed that the meeting had indeed occurred.
'I have yet to meet Budi. He went back to Jakarta while I was heading here to Bogor Palace,' Badrodin said.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno claimed that Budi's fate and the outcome of the pretrial hearing were not discussed during the meeting.
'It was not discussed at all during the plenary Cabinet meeting,' Tedjo said, adding that the government respected the pretrial decision and that it would be best to wait for Jokowi's final say on Budi's fate.
'I have yet to know whether Jokowi will decide to inaugurate Budi or to cancel Budi's candidacy based on the pretrial hearing.'
While Budi could not be reached, he said in an interview with Metro TV over the telephone that he met Jokowi to report the pretrial result.
The KPK named Budi a suspect on Jan. 13, less than 24 hours prior to his confirmation hearing with the House of Representatives.
Amid a chorus of pressure from politicians of both the ruling and opposition camps for Budi's inauguration as National Police chief, Jokowi has remained firm on his pledge not to inaugurate him.
But the decision by the South Jakarta District Court has added to the complexity.
In a pretrial hearing presided solely by judge Sarpin Rizaldi, who has been reported by many individuals to the Judicial Commission (KY) for allegedly receiving kickbacks, the court annulled Budi's suspect status.
Although a pretrial hearing has no authority to determine the validity of a suspect status, as stipulated in the Criminal Code (KUHP), Sarpin argued that the legality of naming an individual a suspect was an appropriate object of examination in such a hearing.
Sarpin also argued that the KPK's determining of Budi to be a suspect was not valid and not based upon the law because Budi accepted gifts that caused no state losses.
He also said the KPK had no authority to investigate alleged graft cases involving Budi when he served as the National Police's Career Development Bureau head, an Echelon II position.
Citing Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK, the judge said the agency only had the authority to investigate alleged corruption involving state officials with Echelon I positions and law enforcers.
Sarpin argued Budi's position in the Career Development Bureau was limited to helping his superiors carry out police career development programs in the National Police's human resources division. In his position Budi was not carrying out duties related to law enforcement.
The KPK has alleged Budi of receiving kickbacks from fellow police officers in order to smooth out their careers.
Following the decision, lawmakers urged Jokowi to immediately inaugurate Budi.
'The President has no other reasons to not inaugurate Budi. The legal process is done and all people must respect and obey it,' House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said.
KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said that the verdict contained flaws as it failed to recognize that the KPK had charged Budi with receiving bribes when serving in a number of posts at the National Police, including as head of the Career Development Bureau, a possibility that opened the way for the KPK to launch a new investigation.
'We will fight. We will try to look at the letter of investigation in which it was written that [the alleged crime] is related to his other posts in the past,' Bambang said.
