Polemics Over Police Perception Index Deemed to Undermine Prabowo's Policies

A study published by IndexMundi, a global organisation that collects and disseminates cross-country statistics, has placed the Indonesian National Police (Polri) 18th on a list of police institutions with the highest corruption indices in the world.

Criminal law expert Romli Atmasasmita stated that such a survey cannot be accepted simply as valid scientific fact. According to him, the report carries a hidden agenda aimed at disparaging and delegitimising the policies of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, particularly in the fields of legal reform and national order enforcement.

“IndexMundi claims to aggregate data from various international sources, but the data collection methodology for this police index is questioned by experts in the fields of statistics and social sciences,” he said in a written statement on Monday, 6 July 2026.

He also firmly rejected the validity of the findings, describing them as a tool for political pressure against the legitimate government.

Romli assessed that the dissemination of unverified scientific data has the potential to damage public trust in law enforcement institutions and disrupt the stability of the ongoing reform process.

Meanwhile, social observer and statistician Karyono Wibowo assessed that IndexMundi’s claim, which places Polri 18th as the most corrupt police institution, is methodologically weak and fails to meet international scientific standards for public surveys.

“There are at least three fundamental weaknesses that make these findings unsuitable as a policy reference. The survey uses a non-probability sampling method, a technique where not every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected,” he said.

With only 296 online respondents, the sample used is not representative of Indonesia’s national population, which exceeds 270 million people. The margin of error resulting from such a small sample far exceeds the tolerance limits accepted in international academic and public policy survey standards.

“Respondents were recruited solely from visitors to the IndexMundi website, who demographically tend to be active internet users from English-speaking or developed nations,” said Karyono.

“The profile of these respondents does not reflect the heterogeneous Indonesian society, and their perception of Polri is very likely shaped by biased international media coverage, rather than direct experience on the ground,” he added.