Muhammadiyah Speaks Out Against Proposal to Place Police Under a Ministry
The chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership (PP Muhammadiyah), Haedar Nashir, has assessed that the idea of restructuring the Indonesian National Police (Polri) from its current position under the president to being placed under a ministry would not resolve existing problems.
Haedar argued that such a move would instead risk creating new problems in the future. He noted that the current positioning of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and Polri was the result of carefully considered arrangements made during the post-reform era.
“If there are problems, it is better to examine internal conditions and fix what exists within, just as there are also problems within government bureaucracy as a whole,” Haedar said in a statement on Saturday (21 February).
He stated that the approach of pursuing structural change every time a problem emerges risks complicating matters further. He assessed that merging Polri into a ministry that itself has internal issues could potentially create a double set of problems.
Haedar emphasised that such a policy cannot serve as a long-term solution. In his view, structural change is not the answer to all governance issues.
“Should we abolish or merge ministries every time there is a problem, or always resort to structural change whenever we have issues in public life? Enough,” he explained.
For this reason, Haedar said that rather than changing the institutional structure, it would be better to consistently implement good governance principles within Polri, the TNI, and the ministerial bureaucracy alike.
He stated that the main challenge currently facing state institutions relates to governance and corruption prevention.
Muhammadiyah, Haedar continued, hopes that all state institutions — whether the TNI, Polri, or ministries — will continue to carry out internal reforms so that good governance principles can function effectively and improve service to the nation and state in accordance with each institution’s core duties and functions.
“We also hope that the Police Reform Team will carefully and wisely understand the issues comprehensively,” he concluded.
National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo had previously spoken candidly about the proposal to place Polri under a ministry during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission III on Monday (26 January).
Listyo conveyed on that occasion that the proposal was no trivial matter. He disclosed that he had even received a message containing an offer for him to become minister of police.
He did not, however, reveal who had made the offer.
Listyo affirmed that Polri’s position remaining directly under the president is non-negotiable. He had even instructed his subordinates that maintaining Polri’s position under the president must be fought for to the very last drop of blood.
“I have already conveyed this — there were even several people who sent me a WhatsApp message saying, ‘Would you like to become minister of police, Sir?’” Listyo said during the meeting.