Jokowi will nominate new police chief candidate

JAKARTA. Despite the ongoing pretrial hearing, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has decided not to swear-in police chief candidate Comr. Budi Gunawan and will look for another hopeful who triggers less public outcry.

Deputy chairman of House Commission III overseeing law, Desmond J. Mahesa, said on Friday that he had received word that the President had called House Speaker Setyo Novanto to inform him of the decision not to inaugurate Budi Gunawan as new police chief.

"Jokowi called Pak Novanto on Wednesday evening to tell him he would not inaugurate Budi Gunawan and would submit a new police chief hopeful,” he said.

The President suspended Budi’s inauguration after Budi was named a graft suspect. His nomination had also garnered widespread public protests.

The South Jakarta District Court is handling Budi’s pretrial petition, which states that the Corruption Eradication Commission’s decision to name him a graft suspect was without merit.

Calls for the President to decide Budi’s fate have mounted in recent weeks as the conflict between National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continues to deepen.

Separately, Pramono Anung Wibowo, a senior politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the President and his Great Indonesia Coalition were scheduled to meet in the Central Java town of Solo to discuss numerous important issues, including the police chief issue and the KPK-police conflict.

He said the meeting would be held in Solo because the coalition’s elites were in the town to attend the national congress of the Hanura Party.

He added the coalition and its elites were waiting for the President’s decision on Budi’s fate and his strategy for resolving the KPK-police conflict.