Analyst says proposed maximum three-year term for Police Chief would reduce the President's prerogative

Jakarta — Senior political analyst Boni Hargens has responded to a proposal by DPR RI Commission III to limit the term of the Kapolri to a maximum of three years. He argues the proposal is not in line with Indonesia’s presidential system and would reduce the President’s prerogative to determine the country’s top Polri official. ‘I personally consider this proposal not relevant or significant within the framework of Indonesia’s presidential system,’ Boni Hargens said in a written statement on Thursday, 21 May 2026. He explained that under Law No. 2 of 2002 on the Indonesian National Police, Article 8(1), Polri is firmly under the President, and Article 8(2) states that the Kapolri is directly accountable to the President. Furthermore, Article 11(1) of the Police Law states ‘the Kapolri shall be appointed and dismissed by the President with the approval of the House of Representatives.’ ‘This is not merely an administrative formality, but a structural foundation that determines the entire dynamics of the institutional relationship between Polri and the executive branch,’ Boni Hargens said. On the other hand, he noted that a proposal to limit the Kapolri’s tenure would reduce the President’s powers. In essence, the appointment of the Kapolri involves several stages: First, the President uses his prerogative as head of state to propose a Kapolri candidate. Second, the DPR, as the people’s representative, evaluates and approves only one candidate from those proposed by the President (if more than one candidate is proposed). Boni Hargens emphasised that the power to appoint the Kapolri is a presidential prerogative. ‘This process places the Kapolri in a unique position—he is not an electoral post, yet not merely a bureaucratic one either. Therefore, the idea of setting the Kapolri’s tenure directly would reduce the President’s prerogative as regulated in the Police Law,’ he said. In his argument, Hargens said the proposal clashes with institutional powers and the implementation of presidential democracy. The President’s prerogative, he argued, forms the foundation of trust. ‘The idea of limiting the Kapolri’s tenure—whether the duration is minimum or maximum—substantively clashes with the architecture of institutional authority in the design and implementation of presidential democracy,’ he concluded.