Police Law Continues to Face Student Rejection, Mahfud MD: It's Understandable as There's No Change

Constitutional Law expert and member of the Police Reform Acceleration Commission, Prof. Mahfud MD, believes that student actions rejecting the Police Law are a natural occurrence. According to him, various fundamental issues within the police force that have long been under public scrutiny have not shown any significant changes.

“Students have the right to express that (rejecting the Police Law), because indeed there has been no change,” Mahfud told reporters following a book launch event in Yogyakarta on Thursday (25/06/2026).

Mahfud stated that he has been pessimistic from the beginning regarding the chances of significant changes occurring through the police reform agenda. He even admitted that he had anticipated that the recommendations drafted by the reform team would not be fully followed up by the government.

Nevertheless, Mahfud accepted the offer to join the Police Reform Acceleration Commission. He did not want to be perceived as merely criticising from the outside without being willing to participate directly in the process of institutional improvement.

“If I did not want to join, I would be accused of various things. People would ask, ‘Mr Mahfud is just talking, but when asked to join, he refuses.’ So, I decided to join,” he said.