Kompolnas commissioner Poengky Indarti said the commission welcomed President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's decision to nominate Budi to take the helm of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), saying that it would serve as a good start in the process of reforming BIN into an institution led by civilians from one previously dominated by military officials.

"Instead of seeing [the nomination] as a political transaction, we see that the President recognizes [Budi's] potential and we are optimistic that Budi can reform BIN into a better civilian-led intelligence institution," Poengky said, asserting that as a civil institution, BIN should be led by a civilian.

Budi is from the National Police and although the Indonesian police force was once part of the military, they are considered civilians.

Should Budi take the helm of the spy agency, Poengky said, Kompolnas hoped he could lead BIN to improve its intelligence capacity, especially in the early detection of all threats to national security as well as assisting Jokowi make political decisions.

Kompolnas expects that Budi, who currently serves as the National Police’s deputy chief, will be able to improve coordination between the National Police and BIN, particularly to improve counterterrorism measures in the country, Poengky said.

Budi is a close associate of President Jokowi’s patron and chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Soekarnoputri. (evi)

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