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Doubts cast over police chief candidate
Even lawmakers are skeptical about his ability to find out who threw acid at Novel, who actually once claimed that a police general was implicated in the case.
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At your command: The sole candidate for National Police chief, Comr. Gen. Idham Azis (second right), and his wife, Fitri Handari (right), welcome members of House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees human rights, security and legal affairs, to their residence in South Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he sole candidate for National Police chief, Comr. Gen. Idham Azis, has vowed to continue investigating the acid attack against senior Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan, but doubts linger over his ability to solve the case.
Idham made the statement following his confirmation hearing at the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing human rights, security and legal affairs on Wednesday, during which lawmakers unanimously backed the former Jakarta Police chief, who was tapped by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to replace Gen. Tito Karnavian, who became the home minister.
The police general said he would appoint a new chief detective and would assign him to continue the investigation into the case, which remains shrouded in mystery despite months of investigation by a fact-finding team led by Idham himself.
“I will set a time for him to immediately solve the case."
Idham, who will be inaugurated at the State Palace on Friday, is to serve as police chief for less than two years. He is to retire in January 2021.
Even lawmakers are skeptical about his ability to find out who threw acid at Novel, who actually once claimed that a police general was implicated in the case. During the confirmation hearing, not a single commission member asked about Idham's commitment to finally shed light on the case.
“We didn't dig deeper into the Novel case because solving the case is almost impossible. He could not solve it until today so what should we expect?” Commission III deputy chairman Desmond J. Mahesa said afterward.
