National Police Chief: Active Officers in Civilian Posts Must Undergo 'Open Bidding'

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has provided clarification regarding the placement of active police members outside the institutional structure of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) under the newly enacted Police Law. Sigit stressed that filling civilian posts by personnel of the Bhayangkara Corps must follow a strict and transparent bureaucratic mechanism. “Polri, in principle, has regulations concerning the placement of Polri members outside the structure. The requirement is that there must be a request from a ministry that wishes to have a Polri member,” Sigit stated at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (9/6). Sigit explained that fulfilling requests from ministries or agencies is not automatically approved. There is a selection process involving the supervisory authority for the state civil apparatus (ASN) and open competency testing. Every active Polri member proposed must obtain a green light from the relevant ministry and pass the state apparatus competency scheme. “Secondly, it must also go through approval from the relevant ministry, in this case the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB), and must follow open bidding or a merit system. So it is not simply that Polri directly places someone,” Sigit said. Sigit assured that the police institution takes a passive stance in matters of filling posts in civilian agencies. If there is no urgent need or official request from the relevant ministry, no personnel will be dispatched. “That process must be followed, so it is not arbitrary. I think that serves as an explanation for what has been questioned by civil society. So if there is no request, Polri will also not send anyone,” he concluded. Deputy Minister of Law, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, explained that one of the key points in the newly passed Police Law concerns the rules for assigning Polri personnel outside the police organisational structure. He affirmed that this clause is faithfully returned to the mandate of Article 30 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution. “Polri has three duties: maintaining public security and order, protecting and serving the public, and law enforcement. It is in the detailed areas of these fields that active Polri members can be placed,” he said.