REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A number of non-governmental organizations gathered at the Kontras office here on Friday to urge President Joko Widodo to appoint a national police chief who has an unblemished record.
"In short, we are here to ask President Jokowi to act firmly and choose a national police chief who has a clean records," coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hadi, said.
He added that the appointment of a new police chief candidate, following the postponement of the inauguration of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan, would help settle the current discussions between the National Police (Polri) and the Commission of Corruption Eradication (KPK).
President Jokowi decided to postpone the inauguration of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan after Budi Gunawan was named as a suspect by the KPK, despite the fact that his candidacy had been endorsed by the parliament.
Budi Gunawan was President Jokowi's sole candidate for national police chief, but one day before his candidacy was scrutinized by the parliament for endorsement Budi Gunawan was named as a suspect over an alleged corruption case by KPK.
The police later named KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjajanto as a suspect ,for having allegedly prompted witnesses to give false testimony to win in court during an election dispute case in 2010 while he was a lawyer.
The NGOs that gathered at Kontras office have questioned the promotion of Budi Waseso, who is current chief of the National Police's Crime Investigation Department, to the rank of Commissioner General, and his inclusion on the list of national police chief candidates recommended by the National Police Commission (Kompolnas).
One of Kontras' founders, M Billah, said the existence of KPK would be threatened if Commissioner General Budi Waseso was appointed as the new national police chief.
"If he is promoted to be national police chief, all KPK commissioners would be indicted, meaning KPK would be paralyzed," he said.
Hamid said Commissioner General Budi Waseso had violated the human rights, when arresting KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto, the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has declared.
One of the Muhammadiyah Islamic organization's youth wing leaders, Ahmad Labib, has also appealed to the President to immediately make a decision that favors the anti-corruption drive.
"We repeat that Pemuda Muhammadiyah would act to fight corruption and ask the President to take an anti-corruption stance," he said.
Other NGOs that attended the meeting included Imparsial and the Setara Institute.
The NGOs have asked the President to suspend Commissioner General Budi Gunawan and to not appoint Commissioner General Budi Waseso as national police chief.
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