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Jokowi taps former adjutant Listyo as National Police chief
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has made what analysts have described as a bold move in nominating a Christian police chief amid a recent surge of sectarianism in the country.
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Listyo Sigit Prabowo. (tribunnews.com/Tribun Medan)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has made what analysts have described as a bold move in nominating a Christian police chief to replace outgoing chief Gen. Idham Azis amid a recent surge of sectarianism in the country.
Jokowi submitted the name of Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, his former adjutant and the National Police's current Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) head, to the House of Representatives on Wednesday for confirmation.
If the House approves the nomination, Listyo is set to be the nation’s second police chief from a religious minority background, after the late Widodo Budidarmo, who led the police from 1974 to 1978.
Analysts have said that Listyo’s religious background could be a hurdle for him when he assumes the police’s top job, as the country has seen a recent wave of Islamic conservatism. A similar issue surfaced when Listyo was assigned as Banten Police chief. The local chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) reportedly resisted his appointment in the increasingly religiously conservative province. In an interview with Tempo in 2019, Listyo said that maintaining open communications with local clerics had allowed him to defuse the situation.
Political analyst Firman Noor of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Listyo should be able to draw on his experience in Banten to navigate possibly tense situations in his early tenure as police chief. He said Listyo would have the extra task of winning the trust of groups that might oppose his new role.
“He must show that he is not someone whom Islamic groups should worry about, which means that he will have to make agendas and programs specifically to address the issue,” Firman said.
Read also: Jokowi's former adjutant named new detective chief
