Natl Police Chief: Antic-graft Unit Will Not Interfere with KPK
National Police Chief Tito Karnavian
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — National Police Chief Gen. (Pol.) Tito Karnavian has guaranteed that the police\'s Special Anticorruption Detachment (Densus Tipikor) would not interfere with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and would even complement each other’s tasks. The new unit would not disturb the police\'s other duties, either.
As an institution, according to Tito, the KPK had an advantage in that intervening in its tasks was difficult. This was because the KPK leadership was elected by the House of Representatives (DPR) and worked in a collegial manner and had a good payroll and welfare system, as well as an at-cost budget system (as needed).
However, the KPK had only about 1,000 personnel and corruption in Indonesia was a jungle. Meanwhile, raising the number of KPK personnel to 5,000 or 10,000 would require a large budget. "I thought, why the police are not used efficiently?" Tito told Kompas in Jakarta, Friday (20/10).
Tito explained that the National Police had 440,000 personnel who are educated and trained in the legal field. Therefore, if 3,000 of them were transferred to the anticorruption detachment, this could be done without incurring high costs.
The anticorruption detachment’s establishment would not interfere with the National Police\'s other duties. Tito said the National Police had a variety of dedicated teams, such as for terrorism, social conflict, drug trafficking, food safety and cyber security.
Finally, with the establishment of the police\'s anticorruption detachment, the KPK could focus on major cases. "The KPK is still needed to tackle those cases that cannot be handled by the police or the attorney general\'s office," Tito said.
Cabinet meeting
The idea on the plan to establish the police\'s anticorruption detachment first emerged when Gen. (Pol.) Sutarman underwent his fit and proper test for the post of National Police chief in October 2013. However, the idea was not pursued.
After the idea reemerged at a July 17 working meeting between the National Police chief and House Commission III, according to Tito, he broached it at a plenary cabinet meeting in August. "The President responded, please draft and present it at a limited meeting," Tito said.
The National Police later formed an internal working group to assess the idea, including budgetary details. On Sept. 25, the National Police sent a letter to Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung to present its assessment on the anticorruption detachment in a limited cabinet meeting. "I heard that the meeting would be held next week," Tito said.
If the idea for the anticorruption unit was approved, Tito said, the unit could start work next year. Regarding the budget, the proposed Rp 2.69 trillion budget was divided into urgent and non-urgent budgets. The urgent budget consisted of Rp 1.1 trillion for salaries and operational costs; the remaining Rp 1.5 trillion non-urgent budget was for building infrastructure, while the unit could temporarily use existing facilities. If the approved budget consisted of only Rp 800 billion, the anticorruption unit would temporarily have limited personnel, and not as many as 3,560 as in the initial plan. "This will be only until we can see whether Densus is capable," he said.
However, the budget for the unit’s establishment has not been discussed by the government\'s working committee, which consists of representatives of the House Budgetary Agency (Banggar) and the Finance Ministry. This was because the anticorruption unit’s concept was premature, as it was yet to be presented at next week’s limited cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, the draft 2018 state budget would be ratified at a House plenary meeting next week.
The chairman of the 2018 State Budget working committee, Said Abdullah, said that the idea on forming the anticorruption detachment needed to be clarified before its budget was approved. "The budget cannot be settled if the institution still causes pros and cons. With regard to Banggar’s position [on the matter], we will not be discussing the proposed formation of the anticorruption unit at present. We will not discuss it, as the budget for the anticorruption unit remains zero at present," he said.
Said suggested that if the plan on the anticorruption unit was approved but the 2018 State Budget was not yet ratified, the National Police could submit a similar proposal to the 2019 State Budget. "This is not easy. Even if the government has budgetary reserves, the government must consult with Banggar if it wants to provide a budget for the anticorruption unit," he said.
Separately, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Asman Abnur said he had not received any proposal on the institutional structure or staff of the police\'s anticorruption unit. “This must first be settled internally; what kind of institution it is must be first approved by the police and prosecutors\' office. After everything is clear, I will send the license for the anticorruption unit’s formation to the President. Once the license is issued, it can be followed up, such as how it is organized, its structure, its payroll, and others. I am in a waiting position," he said.
Internal reform
Centre for Strategic and International Studies researcher Arya Fernandes viewed the planned establishment of the anticorruption unit as an effort by the National Police to reform itself and prove its concern about corruption eradication. "The police under Gen. (Pol.) Tito have started to modernize and reform internally. One of their efforts is to build a new perception, both internally and externally, that the police are also concerned about eradicating corruption despite its internal obstacles. One such obstacle, for example, is the fact that many police officers have been entangled in legal cases," he said.
Moreover, public perception of the police has not been good. From various survey results, the public is not fully satisfied with the police. "Amidst the unfavorable public perception of the police, the formation of the anticorruption unit is experiencing external challenges. On the other hand, the timing of the proposed formation of the anticorruption unit is almost in tandem with the implementation of the House’s inquiry right against the KPK. This will be a big question among the public regarding the anticorruption unit\'s proposal," Arya said.
The public will hesitate and question the urgency for establishing the police’s anticorruption unit amid the House’s political contestation of the KPK through its inquiry right.
"If they intend to form an anticorruption unit, the police have to convince the public that it is the police\'s genuine internal effort to improve its commitment to eradicating corruption, and not for any other purpose,” said Arya. “It will not be easy and needs time, but ideally, its timing must also be right. Proposing the anticorruption unit amid the House inquiry right against the KPK is actually not proper timing."
In connection with this, Muhammadiyah\'s Youth Leadership Center general chairman Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said it would be better if the National Police strengthened its existing corruption crime units. "One of the ways to do this is by withdrawing its officers from the KPK to strengthen the National Police\'s corruption crime units. This could be more effective and faster in handling corruption cases," he said.
(SAN/REK/LAS/AGE/NTA)
