T

he influential Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has urged President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to end the conflict between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police, saying the protracted dispute is hurting the economy.

Citing the recent arrest of senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan, Apindo deputy chairman Anton Supit said the dispute was harming the investment climate at a time when the government needed to be aggressively wooing investors to strengthen the flagging economy.

'€œInvestment is very important in supporting Jokowi'€™s target to create 10 million jobs in five years. This conflict will create uncertainty. Business players very much dislike uncertainty,'€ Anton said on Sunday evening.

'€œAlthough all parties [KPK and National Police] have their own rationales, we can see what is implicit and what is explicit. So we do hope there will be an immediate solution,'€ the businessman said.

Akhiar Salmi, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia, concurred. He said the President should pay careful attention to Novel case, as any mismanagement would erode public confidence in government.

'€œRegardless of the ongoing legal battle, the police'€™s decision to reopen the case after delaying it for so many years has delivered a grim message that there is no legal certainty in this country,'€ Akhiar said.

'€œIt will scare off investors. But, above all, the lack of reliable law enforcement will lead the public to seek vigilante [justice],'€ Akhiar added.

The National Police arrested Novel on Friday on charges related to a case that is 11 years old. The move contradicted the President'€™s orders not to detain the former police officer after police announced his detention was needed to speed up the investigation.

Novel was arrested as a suspect in the 2004 shooting of a man accused of stealing swallows nests in Bengkulu. The incident happened while he was serving as the Bengkulu Police chief of detectives.

Novel was flown to Bengkulu on Friday afternoon and released midday Saturday. He plans to file a pretrial motion against the police'€™s case against him, which he has described as an attempt to criminalize him.

Muhammad Isnur, one of 63 lawyers on the case, said the necessary documents were being prepared.

'€œWe are finalizing the documents. We cannot yet disclose any details,'€ he said.

Many of the lawyers on the Novel case were also involved in investigating suspicions of graft in the procurement of driving simulators for the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) '€” a 2012 case that implicated then Korlantas chief, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, catalyzing an earlier confrontation between the two institutions.

Isnur said in addition to providing representation, the team would urge the police'€™s Profession and Security Division (Propam) to look into ethical violations and the Indonesian Ombudsman to address maladministration. He said appeals to President Jokowi would also be made.

Emerson Yuntho from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said he was convinced Novel'€™s arrest was but the first act of a larger scheme to paralyze the KPK.

'€œPresident Jokowi must intervene and do something about it. Otherwise corruption cases, especially within the police, will be untouchable,'€ he said.