(Jakarta Globe) Jokowi is seen as not being afraid to go against DPR & elites political party

12/12/2018

President Joko Widodo’s decision not to go ahead with his controversial pick for National Police chief has earned praise from observers and activists, but more bumps appear in sight in the country’s fight against corruption.

Joko has faced a massive public outcry over his nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, who was last month named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK.

On Wednesday, though, nearly six weeks since his Jan. 9 announcement of Budi’s nomination, Joko finally declared that he was scrapping the nomination and instead putting forward Cmr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, the deputy police chief, for the top post.

“As the conflict has sparked division in society, I feel the need to do something to calm the situation and unite the police corps,” he said. “The National Police need a leader. I am now putting forward a new candidate for National Police chief: Commissioner General Badrodin Haiti. I also urge both the National Police and the KPK to abide by their codes of ethics in order to maintain harmony between state institutions.”

At the same time, he also announced that he would immediately order the suspensions of KPK chairman Abraham Samad and deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto, who face criminal charges leveled by the police in what appears to be a retaliation to Budi being named a graft on Jan. 13.

Joko announced that the KPK would get three temporary commissioners to replace Abraham and Bambang, as well as former deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas, whose term in office ended in December and was not renewed.

“The substitute [commissioners] are Taufiequrachman Ruki, Indriyanto Seno Adji and Johan Budi,” Joko added.

Taufiequrachman was the KPK’s inaugural chairman, helming the commission from 2003 to 2007; Indriyanto is a professor of criminal law at the University of Indonesia; and Johan is the KPK’s former spokesman and current chief for corruption prevention.

‘Consistent’ Joko?

Political pundits were quick to laud the decision, saying it showed the president was not afraid to go against the House of Representatives and elites within his own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, who have insisted that Budi be inaugurated after passing a House confirmation hearing.

“The president’s move is consistent with his pledge to eradicate corruption,” said legal expert Umbu Rauta from Satya Wacana University.

The president has been indecisive on whether to inaugurate Budi, as he tried to find a balance between halting a slide in his approval and appeasing elites in his political circle.”

Budi was widely believed to have been pushed onto Joko for the post of police chief by PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, whom he served as a security aide during her presidency from 2001 to 2004.

Gede Pasek Suardika, a former Democratic Party official and now a member of the Regional Representatives Council, or DPD, said the president’s latest move would help get the “back on track” in its fight against graft.

He said the criminal charges against Abraham and Samad threatened to cripple the much-vaunted KPK, but that with Ruki, a former police general, now in place, there might be an easing of tensions between the antigraft commission and the police.

Separately, Badrodin said he was eager to mend ties with the KPK, saying he wanted to “stop the conflict from dragging on any further,” as well as to push much-needed reform within the police force, long considered among the most corrupt government institutions in Indonesia.

He added that most of the cases against the KPK commissioners, dug up by the office of chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, an ally of Budi Gunawan’s, “don’t necessarily need to be investigated criminally.”

Mending ties with the KPK, Badrodin said, “is a challenge that I must face. And this is a tough one.

“There must be synergy [with the KPK]. How this work technically, we will discuss with the new KPK leaders,” he added.

More trumped-up charges?

Antigraft watchdogs, though, are far from satisfied, saying the president has failed to address the likelihood of the police continuing their onslaught of the KPK.

“There should be protection for the temporary commissioners because I’m afraid they will be targeted too,” said Zainal Arifin Mochtar, the director of Gadjah Mada University’s Center for Corruption Studies.

Alghifari Aqsa of the Legal Aid Foundation said only time would tell if Badrodin was really serious about stopping the attacks against the KPK.

“The president must ensure that the next police chief will conduct a massive overhaul inside the police force and remove all those responsible for weakening the KPK, particularly by demoting or suspending Budi Waseso,” he said.

Rights activists from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, on Wednesday filed a complaint against Budi Waseso with the police’s internal affairs department over his handling of the investigation into the KPK’s Bambang.

Kontras said the police arrest of Bambang on Jan. 23 (he was released several hours later) was “thick with political intrigue,” coming just days after the KPK had named Budi Gunawan a suspect.

PDI-P peeved

Another group dismayed by Joko’s announcement, though for an entirely different reason, is the House, which previously threatened to launch impeachment proceedings if Joko failed to inaugurate Budi as police chief.

“Of course we’re disappointed because until the announcement, we were still hoping for him to inaugurate Budi Gunawan,” legislator Trimedya Panjaitan, of the PDI-P, told Detik.com.

“We’re now waiting for the nomination letter, then we will take decide on whether to accept it or not. We’ll discuss it when we’re in session again [on March 23].”

T.B. Hasanuddin, another veteran PDI-P legislator, said a court ruling last week that declared flawed the KPK’s naming of Budi as a suspect should have paved the way for him to be sworn in.

“I want to ask what has Budi Gunawan done that led to his nomination being suspended. He’s no longer a [graft] suspect and the House has agreed to his appointment, so there’s no reason that he shouldn’t be inaugurated,” Hasanuddin said.

“What was the point of waiting for the pretrial motion ruling if it didn’t even have an effect on [Joko’s] decision?”

PDI-P deputy secretary general Ahmad Basarah chimed in that in light of the cancellation “it’s hard for the PDI-P to shield [Joko] from attempts to impeach him.”

The impeachment threat ironically came from the PDI-P, the party that nominated and ostensibly supports Joko.

The president, though, has found an unlikely ally in House Speaker Setya Novanto, from the opposition Golkar Party.

“We appreciate whatever move the president makes. I’m sure his decision comes from great consideration of what is best for the police force,” Setya said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, also of Golkar, said he was confident that Badrodin would pass the House confirmation hearing, which must be held within 20 days of legislators reconvening from recess on March 23.

State Secretary Pratikno said his office had sent Joko’s letter nominating Badrodin to the House on Wednesday.

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(Jakarta Globe) Jokowi is seen as not being afraid to go against DPR & elites political party