JAKARTA - Senior political analyst Boni Hargens gave a critical response to the proposal of Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) which encourages limiting the term of the National Police Chief to a maximum of three years. According to Boni, the idea is irrelevant in the framework of the Indonesian presidentialism system and has the potential to reduce the President's prerogative to determine the leadership of the National Police.
"I myself consider this proposal irrelevant and insignificant in the framework of the Indonesian presidential system," Boni Hargens said in a written statement, Thursday, May 21.
Boni explained that the position of the National Police in the Indonesian constitutional system has been regulated in the Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia. In Article 8 paragraph (1), the National Police is directly under the President, while Article 8 paragraph (2) confirms that the National Police Chief is directly responsible to the President.
In addition, Article 11 paragraph (1) of the Police Law states that the National Police Chief is appointed and dismissed by the President with the consent of the DPR RI.
"This is not just an administrative formality, but a structural foundation that determines the entire dynamics of institutional relations between the National Police and the executive branch," said Boni.
According to him, the mechanism for appointing the National Police Chief has so far reflected the principle of checks and balances. The President uses his prerogative to propose a candidate for the National Police Chief, while the DPR carries out the oversight function through the suitability test and approval process.
Therefore, limiting the term of office of the National Police Chief is considered to reduce the President's flexibility in determining officials who are trusted to carry out the government's vision in the field of law enforcement and security.
"The National Police Chief is not an elective position, but it is also not a regular bureaucratic position. This position is born from a relationship of trust between the President and certain individuals," he said.
Boni assessed that limiting the term of office of the National Police Chief through legislation has the potential to create an imbalance in the power relationship between the legislature and the executive.
"Limiting the term of office of the National Police Chief through legislation means that the DPR indirectly intervenes in the executive domain," he said.
He also emphasized that term limits in the presidential system are actually applied to political positions obtained through direct elections, such as the President and regional heads.
"The principle of limiting the period is to prevent the monopoly of power that comes from the mandate of the people. Meanwhile, the National Police Chief and the TNI Commander are subject to the logic of institutional management, including the promotion system and the retirement age limit," he explained.
According to Boni, regeneration in the Polri and TNI institutions has been carried out through career mechanisms, performance evaluations, and retirement age provisions. Therefore, mixing the logic of political regeneration with bureaucratic regeneration is considered conceptually wrong.
"Mixing these two logics is not only conceptually wrong, but also potentially damaging to the existing institutional governance," he said.
Boni assessed that if the DPR's goal was to strengthen the accountability of the National Police, then the more appropriate step was to strengthen the external oversight system, the transparency of the track record of the prospective National Police Chief, and a more measurable performance evaluation.
"It is not a constitutional counterproductive term limit," concluded Boni Hargens.
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