REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo does not necessarily need to hold a consultation meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives (DPR), an observer said here on Wednesday.
Victor Silaen of the Pelita Harapan University (UPH) stated that the president did not need to explain why the candidacy of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan for the post of the national police chief was cancelled.
"It is enough for the president to say that Budi Gunawan's candidacy was cancelled because he was named as a suspect in a graft case by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)," the observer added.
Silaen pointed out that Jokowi, as the president is better known, could explain that it would have been unethical to induct a police chief candidate with the status of a suspect. This is in accordance with the Consultative Assembly's (MPR) decree number TAP MPR VI/2001.
If the DPR argued that Judge Sarpin had annulled Gunawan's status as a suspect, (the president) could explain that the judge did not annul the substance of the case in which the KPK had named him as a suspect, Silaen noted.
He hoped that everyone would understand that no judge ruled out the suspect status of Gunawan in the corruption case.
"That is why the KPK could proceed with the legal process involving Gunawan," he remarked.
Furthermore, the observer also suggested that during the consultation hearing with the parliament leadership, the president be accompanied by a constitutional court expert who could explain matters related to the cancellation of Gunawan's candidacy.
President Joko Widodo is scheduled to meet with the leadership of the DPR on Monday next week for consultations.
"Yes, the president will have a meeting on the leadership succession of the National Police. That is all the DPR requested," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Tejo Edhi Purdijatno said at the Presidential Palace here on Wednesday.
Purdijatno added that President Joko Widodo had agreed to the meeting that is scheduled to take place at the parliament building.
"We hope it proceeds in a relaxed manner. It is a reciprocal visit (to the parliament) because the DPR (leadership) visited the palace earlier (for a meeting with the president). Now, it is our turn to visit them to basically hold cordial meeting," the minister remarked.
When questioned about whether a fit-and-proper test for the candidate for the post of the national police chief, Commissioner General (Pol) Badrodin Haiti, will be held after the meeting, Purdijatno noted that the government will follow the existing mechanism.
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