Da'i anoints Sutanto as possible successor

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Monday that he has put forward Insp. Gen. Sutanto, the current vice governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas), as a candidate to replace him.

Sutanto is deemed by analysts as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's favorite nominee, making him the strongest candidate to succeed Da'i.

On the sidelines of a graduation ceremony at the Police Academy on Monday, Da'i said that Sutanto is included on a list of the police chief's preferred candidates, which he would submit to the President.

Da'i refused to reveal the names of other candidates included on the list.

Many, however, have speculated that among the other nominees are Deputy National Police chief Comr. Gen. Adang Dorodjatun, operational director at the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara and deputy chief of detectives at the National Police Insp. Gen. Dadang Garnida.

Da'i said that the final decision would be in the President's hands and that he was ready to file the list of preferred candidates with the President very soon.

However, Da'i said the President had not yet asked for the list of candidates, adding that the police would not therefore get a new chief any time in the near future.

To achieve the top post in the National Police, Sutanto still has one obstacle remaining, namely his rank that is not high enough compared to the other candidates as he is only two-star police general. The other candidates are three-star police generals.

Although there is no regulation requiring the National Police chief to be a specific rank, three-star police generals have always been picked to take over the job.

Da'i had previously said that even a one-star police general, or a brigadier general, could be nominated as police chief as long as he was still active in the police force.

However, Da'i said on Monday the police were considering increasing Sutanto's rank to a three-star general in an apparent move to get him promoted as his successor.

"We are now discussing the possibility of elevating Sutanto's rank but only the President can decide that. We can only propose the idea and let the President decide," Da'i said.

Apart from the effort to elevate Sutanto's rank, Da'i also said that he is currently adjusting the positions of several high-ranking police officers nominated for the police chief's post.

"We're planning to carry out a reshuffle, so that the high- ranking officers with potential to become police chief will be in the right positions," Da'i said, declining to elaborate.