A breach of public trust
We do not doubt the good intentions of our National Police Chief, Gen. Da'i Bachtiar in taking the former Banyumas chief of police, Sr. Comr. Andi Mapparesa, to task over his breach of public trust for allegedly drumming up support for Megawati Soekarnoputri in her reelection bid.
Gen. Da'i has stated that Mapparesa will be made to answer for his actions to a disciplinary commission in Jakarta, next week. The question, however, is whether at this stage of the public debate, will such an assurance be enough to quell the growing public outrage over the incident, which was revealed to the public late last month by the Association of University of Indonesia Alumni (Iluni).
As may be recalled, Iluni, in a news conference staged with all the proper dramatic trappings in Jakarta on July 25, presented convincing evidence of this case of police infraction of the election laws in the form of a video showing Mapparesa in the act of explaining to police veterans' families why it would be good for the police to have President Megawati reelected. To make things worse, the footage also showed officers handing out envelopes, presumably containing money, to those attending the meeting.
Although officers at the national police headquarters have tried to play down the incident, there can be no doubt that Mapparesa's act, if proved correct and reported in the proper context and perspective by the media, constitutes a serious violation of the country's laws. A decree, issued in 2000 by the People's Consultative Assembly, the highest legislative body in the country, explicitly states that the national police must maintain a neutral stance in politics and forbids members of the force from engaging in day-to-day politics. Furthermore, the decree dictates that police officers in active service must forfeit their right to vote and be elected. The same principles are contained in Law No.2/2002. Even more fundamentally, however, Mapparesa's act runs against both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, which guarantees free and fair elections.
Interestingly, the Megawati camp has thus far kept silent over the incident and have thereby effectively distanced themselves from the whole incident. However, even a cursory glance at the facts is enough to convince any observer that a solid police force backing in a general election is nothing to be sniffed at. In 2000, shortly after the wave of reforms uncoupled it from the military, the Indonesian national police counted roughly 230,000 men and women. Since then, it has steadily grown and was planned to reach more than 360,000 men and women this year. Add to that number all the officers' wives and family members, all the veterans and veterans' wives, and the political value of a solid police corps backing in a general or presidential election will stand out for anyone to see.
The crux of the problem, of course, is that the national police force is directly subordinate to the President, and hence it is almost naturally inclined to back the incumbent President, its superior. Furthermore, a return to the old days under Soeharto, when the national police was in essence no more than a less-than-full-fledged extension of the military, is viewed with distaste by the national police. So far, the national police headquarters has appeared to seek to contain the Banyumas incident by maintaining that Mapparesa's videotaped act was a mere "internal" police occurrence that did not affect the force as a whole. Indeed, Gen. Da'i has publicly reaffirmed the neutrality of his corps in matters of politics.
Obviously Gen. Da'i's reassurance, and his determination to call officer Mapparesa to account before a disciplinary commission next week, comes as a relief to many Indonesians. Still, given the militaristic structure -- if one can be forgiven the phrase -- of the police's organizational setup, many Indonesians find it difficult to accept that the Banyumas was an isolated case, unrelated to the police corps as a whole. For that reason, a feeling prevails among Indonesians that responsibility for the Banyumas, incident must be shared by officers at the top. If so, we fear that nothing less than the voluntary resignation of Gen. Da'i Bachtiar from his position as chief of the National Police, or his replacement by the President, will be able to ease the suspicions of police bias in the current elections. Admittedly, much is at stake for the National Police and for Gen. Da'i. But then, the same is true for democracy and for the nation as a whole.