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COMMENTARY: Police general leading BIN faces daunting task
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (right) witnesses the new head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Gen. Budi Gunawan (left), signing the official report of his instalment as the Indonesian spy chief on Sept. 9 at the State Palace. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
I
rrespective of all the nomination and selection processes at the legislative body, the appointment of a police general as head of the country’s top intelligence body is nothing new in Indonesia.
Gen. Budi Gunawan, formerly a deputy National Police chief, assumes the position of National Intelligence Agency (BIN) director, just as former National Police chief Sutanto, did seven years ago.
Still, Budi’s promotion to the strategic post has drawn mixed reactions from the public, particularly from people in security/defense and intelligence circles.
While the House of Representatives unanimously threw its weight behind Budi, a number of security and intelligence analysts have expressed doubts about his
capacity to lead the national intelligence agency. Most previous BIN directors came from the military, including Budi’s predecessor Sutiyoso, who took over from another military general, Marciano Norman.
The skeptics are apparently referring to the era of Sutanto’s leadership of BIN in 2009 to 2011 and drawing conclusions from that period about Budi’s capacity to lead the agency. Although they fail to point out specific weaknesses or failures of Sutanto, they are of the opinion that Sutanto’s achievement was below expectations.
Speaking about their individual capacity to lead an important institution like BIN, both Sutanto and Budi are seemingly on par. They both were the best graduates in their respective class: Sutanto was the recipient of the Adhi Makayasa Award as the best graduate of the Police Academy in 1973, while Budi received the same accolade in 1983.
Both Sutanto and Budi once served as adjutant to a ruling president — a post largely perceived as a determinant factor for a future career in the military or police. Sutanto was an adjutant to then president Soeharto from 1995 until 1998, while Budi was an adjutant to then president Megawati Soekarnoputri from 2001 until 2004. In practice here, a president usually picks four adjutants, one each from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the police.
On the other hand, it is a fact that both Sutanto and Budi lacked experience in the intelligence field. Sutanto, however, secured the blessing of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for the intelligence chief post, as they both belonged to the 1973 class in their respective academies — Yudhoyono was a graduate of the military academy, while Sutanto was a graduate of the police academy.
Such a connection was a significant factor that contributed to the relatively warm welcome Sutanto received from his intelligence peer groups, particularly from the military.
Unlike Sutanto, Budi enjoys a double benefit. Not only is he a close confidant of Megawati, who is chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and chief patron of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, but Budi also hails from Surakarta, the hometown of Jokowi, which plays an important role in the nomination for key government posts in the country.
Jokowi nominated Budi as the sole candidate for the BIN top post over a year after he failed to install Budi as the National Police chief due to the latter’s implication in a graft case. Eventually the court declared wrong the Corruption Eradication Commission’s procedure of naming Budi a suspect.
The appointment of a police general as the intelligence chief apparently has something to do with the nature of the police’s main task of ensuring domestic security. In performing his new responsibilities, Budi will very likely get support from a number of police generals who President Jokowi has recruited into his security and intelligence circles. They include National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, Budi’s junior, and Comr. Gen. (ret) Gories Mere, a former chief of the police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88, who is now an advisor to the President on intelligence and security affairs.
Another domain of experience that Budi may be lacking is external or international intelligence, again due to his police background. But, he can close the gap by closely working with Gories, who has ample experience in international security networking. After all, being the director of BIN, which is tasked by law with a coordinating role among Indonesian intelligence units, Budi will have to cooperate closely with intelligence units of the Foreign Ministry and the Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) of the Indonesian Military, both of which have intelligence arms abroad.
The President has picked a police general to provide him with analysis on security matters. Only time will tell whether the President has made the right choice.
