President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to have made a safe decision by nominating Comr. Gen. Sutarman as the sole National Police chief candidate, with the majority of lawmakers throwing their support behind his choice even before they interviewed him.
But antigraft watchdogs have questioned whether the top police general has the capability or willingness to take on rampant corruption within the force.
Emerson Yuntho of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said people should not forget that Sutarman, currently the police's criminal investigations division chief, was among the top police officials who opposed the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation into Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was convicted of graft and money laundering and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the Rp 144 billion (US$12.4 million) vehicle simulator graft case.
Djoko was the first top police general to be charged by the antigraft body, in a move analysts said would open the doors to more graft investigations involving other top police officials. His downfall is widely seen as a major victory against systemic corruption in the police force, which only a few years ago was seen as above the law.
"[Sutarman] often opposed the KPK, so I doubt he will be able to root out corruption in the police," Emerson told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The police's animosity toward the KPK became evident in a series of incidents, in particular one relating to the latter's attempt to investigate corruption implicating top members of the police.
When the simulator graft case first emerged in October last year, the two institutions were involved in a series of showdowns resulting in dozens of police officers trying to enter the antigraft body's headquarters to arrest a KPK investigator in the case, Novel Baswedan, for allegedly shooting robbery suspects in 2004. Sutarman reportedly gave the nod to the Bengkulu Police to press charges against Novel.
The police also ordered 20 officers seconded to the KPK, most of whom were also investigating the case, to immediately return to the force in protest against the KPK's decision to investigate Djoko, who was then National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) chief. Sutarman insisted the force should take over the high-profile graft case from the KPK.
Uchok Sky Khadafi of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) accused the President of appointing Sutarman to contain the KPK, which has taken bold moves to combat corruption. He said the police general would easily be endorsed by the House of Representatives as they shared a dislike of the KPK.
However, the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), which was tasked with conducting background checks of police chief candidates including Sutarman, dismissed the activists' concerns, saying he was "clean" and was committed to corruption eradication.
Kompolnas member Edi Hasibuan, who admitted that tackling corruption would be his biggest challenge in restoring the image of the police, said: "Sutarman has enough experience regardless of his seniority. He will be able to take reform forward."
Police observer Bambang Widodo Umar was confident about Sutarman, saying the man would be able to prove his critics wrong.
"Given that he is a calm person, he can nurture and unite his men in attempt to improve the institution. I hope he is serious about fixing the internal monitoring mechanism, as well as tackling corruption within the force," he said.
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