Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti / Antara

The switch from the Year of the Horse to the Goat must have been one of the most tumultuous weeks since the Reform Era.

By Chinese New Year, many were relieved following the long-awaited decision of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo regarding the National Police-Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conflict on Wednesday from Bogor Palace '€“ his temporary home, which appears to be his newfound sanctuary away from the floods and politicking of the capital.

The President canceled the nomination of the sole candidate for National Police chief, Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, despite pressure mainly from his own ruling coalition to install Budi '€” following Monday'€™s stunning decision in a pre-trial hearing that declared the KPK'€™s move to declare Budi a graft suspect as invalid.

Judge Sarpin Rizaldi banged his gavel and the police guarding the courthouse showed their gratitude and '€œspontaneously'€ pranced around in front of the public, who had to wonder whether indeed the officers before their eyes were trained to serve the public.

Budi'€™s accounts were declared suspicious by the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) in 2010, with both his and his family'€™s accounts reaching almost Rp 100 billion (US$7.87 million).

His was among over a dozen similarly suspicious accounts among the police'€™s top brass.

Budi'€™s replacement, deputy police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, who Jokowi has named the new candidate for police chief, is considered the best available option among the remaining names in the list proposed to the President by the National Police Commission, although Badrodin is also worth billions, which raises more questions given that his monthly salary is a little over Rp 20 million.

Budi seemed the darling of the lawmakers '€” he was the former adjutant of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, the current leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Getting the approval of the legislature for Badrodin may involve intense lobbying on Jokowi'€™s part during the one-month recess. The President seemed to deliberately make the announcement a day before the legislature went into recess until March 19.  

The public was also confused as to why politicians appeared to be clinging so dearly to a police officer that was announced a graft suspect by the KPK '€” one conclusion being lawmakers'€™ constant resentment of the popular antigraft body.

Dozens of lawmakers in the House of Representatives have been among hundreds of high-ranking individuals arrested and convicted by the KPK for graft offences.

The President'€™s dithering was most frustrating, though some thought as a green politician with limited allies, Jokowi had no choice but to cautiously weigh his options and the timing of his decisions amid decreasing friends, increasing foes and disenchanted supporters.

Citizens watched as the credibility of their President, the police and the KPK all eroded. Suspects refused to answer the KPK'€™s summons and other suspects reportedly were also preparing pretrial requests, following in the footsteps of Budi.

Only the politicians and the police were gaining confidence '€” one by one they revealed possible charges against the KPK leaders, and finally the planned investigation into 21 KPK investigators who are police members, suspected of carrying arms without extending their permits, was revealed late on Tuesday.

A source of hope was Jokowi'€™s installation of three provisional leaders of the KPK '€” Taufiqurrahman Ruki, Johan Budi and Indriyanto Seno Aji '€” on Friday to fill in the vacancies left by two KPK leaders named suspects by the police.

Jokowi'€™s decision was both hailed and slammed.

The emergence of both an aggressive antigraft body and a President who was a common businessman '€” would not have been possible under former president Soeharto'€™s rule.

But the end to both '€œchildren of the Reform Era'€ now looks possible, as we saw this week.

Ahead of the planned execution of convicts, including two from Australia, the headlines would normally be full of patriotic messages directed at Australia '€” especially as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott raised the ingratitude of Indonesians for Australia'€™s generous aid for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh.

The crisis deflected some attention away from the death row convicts.

Jokowi is not the first president to see the destruction of the KPK, but he will be the first president to reject all clemencies and oversee the deaths of convicts. And this despite claims, including from the prison warden of the Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, that the rehabilitation program behind the bars of Kerobokan prison in Denpasar seems a success.

The execution of the two Australian convicts has been put on hold, although Attorney General HM Prasetyo says it is only a matter of time.

Along with a national law enforcement crisis and more diplomatic tensions with Australia, Indonesians'€™ vulnerability to qualified health care also came to the fore.

Two patients died at the reputable Siloam Hospital in Tangerang, Banten after reacting negatively to anesthesia.

As investigations are ongoing, we are reminded again of the relatively weak protection of patients once admitted into so-called professional care despite several laws on consumer rights, hospital and medical care and also the Health Law.  

'€” Ati Nurbaiti

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