ICW Asks Jokowi To Choose A National Police Chief Committed To Eradicating Corruption

JAKARTA - Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has asked President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to choose a candidate for the National Police Chief who is serious about making internal improvements to the Bhayangkara Corps as well as having a commitment to eradicating corruption.

ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana said this request was submitted because the police were still not maximal in eradicating corruption, which is one of their main functions.

"The National Police institution has been perceived negatively by the public, especially with regard to its commitment to eradicating corruption," said Kurnia as quoted from his written statement, Saturday, January 9.

This conclusion, he said, was not baseless. This is because, referring to the Indonesian Survey Institute in early December, the level of public satisfaction with the police's performance was only around 59.7 percent.

This finding is also not the first to occur because in the previous year, based on a survey conducted by ICW and LSI, it showed the same thing. In addition, in the same survey it was also found that the greatest potential for illegal levies is found in bureaucratic services in the police.

So, reflecting on this, President Jokowi is deemed necessary to elect a candidate to replace the National Police Chief, General Idham Azis, who is serious about making improvements within the institution.

"At least the president must include competency and integrity indicators in recruiting future Police Chief candidates," he said.

Furthermore, this anti-corruption activist also asked Jokowi to open access to information to the public regarding his choice. This needs to be done so that the public can provide an assessment of the track record of the next National Police Chief candidate.

In fact, in order not to make a mistake in choosing, Kurnia considered Jokowi could ask for help from other institutions such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Kompolnas, PPATK, to the Director General of Taxes. This is done in order to ensure that the selected candidates do not have stolen transactions, comply with LHKPN, and have performed well.

Do not let, he said, the incident when Jokowi appointed Budi Gunawan as a candidate for the National Police chief to happen again. At that time, after Budi's name was submitted to the DPR to conduct a due diligence, he was instead named a corruption suspect by the KPK.

"The public does not expect the bad practice in 2015 to repeat itself, when Police Commissioner General Budi Gunawan was named a corruption suspect by the KPK shortly after the President recommended his name to the DPR," he said.

As previously reported, the Chairman of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) as well as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD explained the names of the five Commissioners General (Komjen) who were recommended to serve as Chief of Police. Those who are considered the most eligible.

"These are the five Komjen that were proposed to the President by Kompolnas to be selected as candidates for the National Police Chief. Gatot Edy Pramono, Boy Rafli Amar, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Arief Sulistyanto, Agus Andrianto," Mahfud was quoted as saying on his Twitter account, Friday, January 8.

These five three-star generals are considered the most suitable to serve as the National Police Chief. This is because they have a good track record and prescription at the Police.

"The five people are deemed to have met the requirements of professionalism, loyalty and flight hours," he said.

General Idham Aziz served as the National Police Chief after being inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on November 1, 2019. He will retire in January 2021 after becoming the number one person in the National Police for approximately one year and two months.