Police Oversight Reform: Kompolnas to Become an Independent Institution
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Commission for Accelerating Police Reform has recommended to President Prabowo Subianto to strengthen the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) into an independent institution authorised to oversee the Republic of Indonesia National Police (Polri).
Officially, Kompolnas is currently a non-structural body established to assist the President in overseeing and providing input on Polri’s performance.
“So, Kompolnas will become an independent oversight body, an external police supervisory institution,” said Member of the Commission for Accelerating Police Reform, Mahfud MD, at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday (5/5/2026).
Mahfud stated that with this position, Kompolnas will no longer act as a spokesperson for Polri as it does currently.
The former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs also revealed that Kompolnas will be filled by nine members with varied backgrounds.
“There will be former high-ranking Polri officials, advocates, community figures, academics, environmental experts, and so on. In total, there are nine, and the details are specified in this decision,” said Mahfud.
Chairman of the Commission for Accelerating Police Reform, Jimly Asshiddiqie, stated that Kompolnas membership will no longer be based on positions or ex officio related to other government institutions.
“The President strongly agrees to the strengthening of Kompolnas; the National Police Commission will be reinforced so that its decisions and recommendations are binding,” said Jimly.
Police observer from the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS), Bambang Rukminto, assessed that the plan to strengthen Kompolnas into an independent Polri oversight body has not yet touched on the fundamental issues in police reform.
According to Bambang, the main problem with Kompolnas is not merely its institutional status or the “independent” label, but the power design that has made the institution weak in carrying out its oversight functions from the outset.
“Strengthening Kompolnas as an ‘independent overseer’ essentially does not touch the root of the problem. The main issue is not just the position or institutional label, but the power design that has made Kompolnas weak from the beginning,” Bambang told Kompas.com on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
Bambang also highlighted the aspect of authority, which he considers the most crucial weak point.