National Police Chief Issues Order To Postpone Candidates For Regional Head Candidates

Head of Police Public Relations Division, Inspector General Argo Yuwono (Photo: Dok Polri)

JAKARTA - National Police Chief General Idham Azis issued an order to all his staff to postpone the legal process for candidates for head of blood. The order is related to the implementation of the 2020 regional head elections (Pilkada) simultaneously.

The order was set out in a secret telegram (TR) number ST / 2544 / VIII / RES.1.24. / 2020 as of August 31, 2020. The TR was signed directly by the Head of Criminal Investigation of the Police, Komjen Listyo Sigit.

Head of Public Relations Division of the National Police, Inspector General Argo Yuwono, said that the postponement of the legal process for candidate pairs aims to avoid conflicts of interest.

"A candidate who is in legal trouble if the police conducts an investigation can be accused of not being neutral. That is what we are avoiding," Argo told reporters, Wednesday, September 2.

Awi said, the order was also aimed at avoiding the use of political interests by certain groups. So, the Pilkada process will run well simultaneously.

"To avoid this, a TR was created to maintain neutrality," concluded Argo.

Not only the police, the Attorney General's Office also issued a similar order.

Attorney General ST Burhanuddin issued an order to all his staff to postpone the legal process against regional head candidate pairs who participated in the 2020 regional head elections (Pilkada). The action was carried out after the determination of the elected regional head.

Head of the Attorney General's Office of Legal Information, Hari Setiyono said the postponement of the legal process was aimed at keeping the 2020 Pilkada event conducive. So, the democratic party can run successfully without any obstacles.

"Maintaining a conducive climate by postponing the legal process, from investigation to execution, of potential mates at every stage of the election process," Hari said in his statement, Thursday, August 13.

However, Hari said, his party will still handle corruption allegations during the 2020 simultaneous regional elections. With the note, the handling is guided by the Indonesian Attorney General's Instruction Number 9 of 2019 concerning Optimizing the Role of the Indonesian Attorney's Office in Supporting and Successful Implementation of the 2020 Regional Election

Based on these instructions, Jampidsus investigators will take preventive steps against corruption by creating an anti-corruption system.

"So that the handling of corruption is not politicized or used as an issue to thwart the nomination of certain parties in the Pilkada," said Hari.