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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has endorsed the decision made by newly installed National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti to appoint Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as his deputy. President Jokowi said that Budi, who was named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in January, could help Badrodin consolidate the police force.

'€œI have instructed the police chief to begin internal consolidation and gave him the chance to strengthen the police force. I have also instructed him to step up internal monitoring and improve the force'€™s human resources,'€ he said on the sidelines of the Asian-African Conference Commemoration (AACC) event at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, South Jakarta.

Earlier on Wednesday, State Secretary Pratikno reaffirmed that Jokowi had entrusted Badrodin and the police force'€™s Rank and Promotion Council for High-Ranking Officers (Wanjakti) to make the decision regarding the deputy chief position, based on his earlier conversation with the newly inaugurated police chief.

'€œThe police chief was to then report the decision to the President,'€ he said.

Pratikno earlier explained that President Jokowi had been busy with the AACC and had not been made aware of the inauguration of Budi as deputy National Police chief. '€œHow could the President know [about the inauguration] if he'€™s been busy since this morning?'€ asked Pratikno.

Budi was sworn in in a closed-door ceremony attended by only a handful of high-ranking generals at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan denied that the police force were trying to minimize publicity for the inauguration, although closed-door inauguration ceremonies are a rarity in the force.

'€œThe ceremony was not closed-door, Wanjakti merely decided that the event should be modest in light of the fact that the police chief was very busy with the Asian-African Conference,'€ Anton claimed.

Badrodin earlier said at the House of Representatives building that Wanjakti had chosen Budi during an internal deliberation session on Tuesday afternoon.

Budi remains a controversial choice for deputy National Police chief. He was initially nominated as chief before being named a graft suspect by the KPK. Although the South Jakarta District Court ordered the KPK to halt its graft probe into Budi, Jokowi refused to proceed with Budi'€™s nomination, instead asking the House to endorse Badrodin.

Budi, once served as an adjutant to then president and current Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, was not the only police general inaugurated in a new position.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla'€™s former adjutant, Insp. Gen. Syafruddin, was promoted to replace Budi as the head of the police force'€™s Educational Division (Lemdikpol) and is set to become a three-star general.

Budi Gunawan'€™s inauguration took place after National Police detective division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso declared that there was not enough evidence to continue the graft investigation into him based on the graft case dossier handed over by the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) earlier this month.

'€œOur investigators and several legal experts all agreed that there was not enough evidence in the dossier to name anyone a suspect,'€ he said.

After the South Jakarta District Court'€™s ruling, the KPK was forced to hand over the dossier, which allegedly only contained a copy of Budi'€™s wealth report, to the AGO in March. The AGO then transferred the dossier to the police force, citing efficiency, as the police had investigated the same case in 2010.

Chris Biantoro, a rights activist from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), raised concerns over Jokowi'€™s lack of involvement in the appointment of the deputy National Police chief.

'€œThis shows the government'€™s lack of commitment to eradicating corruption. It has let the police force pick a deputy chief who was previously implicated in graft,'€ he complained.

Police expert Bambang Widodo Umar suggested that his appointment as deputy police chief would be Budi'€™s ticket to the top job, because Badrodin is expected retire to in 15 months.