A breach of public trust

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.