Prabowo on Polri Reform: Give the Institution a Chance to Cleanse Itself

President Prabowo Subianto has responded to doubts regarding the government’s implementation of recommendations from the Commission for Accelerating Polri Reform to improve the police force. Prabowo believes that reforming an institution does not necessarily require a reform committee, although he acknowledges that such a committee is an important tool.

“So what I am saying is that the desire to improve all institutions, including the police, does not solely have to come from a reform committee. But the reform committee is a very important supporting tool,” Prabowo stated during a discussion with journalists and observers broadcast on Sunday (22/3/2026).

The government, he said, will review improvement measures that can be implemented immediately or those that need to be postponed, considering various aspects. He stressed that the state needs professional, clean, and integrity-filled law enforcement institutions.

“Yes, we will study which ones we can do quickly, we will do them. Which ones we think cannot be done yet, yes, we might postpone them, right? There will be many arguments, we will see later. We will make rational decisions, but that the state needs law enforcement institutions that are professional, clean, non-corrupt, and full of integrity is absolute,” he said.

Therefore, he reaffirmed his commitment to improving various conditions deemed not yet functioning well, including within the police and other institutions.

“So if I am serious about my oath, yes, I must improve the conditions that are not good, including the conditions in our institutions,” he said.

Prabowo believes that the bad image of institutions is often caused by the actions of a few individuals with power. However, the majority of officers have been working well.

“Yes, that’s the situation. Including the police. But it’s not limited to the police. So I say this, we also have to be fair, it’s always a drop of something that spoils a pot of milk. Maybe some rogue elements but they have power, they can do as they please. But hundreds of thousands of other police officers get a bad name,” he said.

Therefore, he wants to give every institution the opportunity to carry out internal clean-ups before further steps are taken. He exemplified an approach like an audit, where leaders are given a chance to improve performance within a certain period before firm action is taken.

“That’s why once again, first, I want to give each institution the chance to cleanse itself. This is something many people don’t trust, but in leadership, sometimes that’s the best way. For example, if we see a situation like this. It’s the same as perhaps an audit,” he said.

“If the audit is not resolved, he comes and tells the leader, ‘Hey, you’re not right. Can you fix yourself?’ If you fix yourself, I give you three months to fix it, still lacking, another three months,” he continued.

Furthermore, he revealed that actions against problematic officers are already visible, both in the police and the TNI. He also touched on issues like illegal mining and smuggling, which he believes are inseparable from weak field supervision by officers.

“I see now the police are taking action against many rogue officers. If we look, there are some regents’ police chiefs, yes, I think that’s a better direction, and also in the TNI there are rogue TNI officers. Smuggling definitely happens because of weak law enforcement and how about the Navy? Right?” he said.

Prabowo emphasised that the entire chain, from the lower levels to the leadership, must be responsible for the situation. He questioned the role of officers in the regions if violations like illegal mining still occur.

“What about the regional command? What about the district command? What about the village-level officer? How can illegal mining happen? I question it, I say, Commander of the TNI, investigate how illegal mining can happen. The village-level officer doesn’t know, the sub-district command doesn’t know, the district command doesn’t know, the regional command doesn’t know. What’s the point of having such officials? If they don’t know or don’t want to know about illegal mining, illegal plantations, and so on. Right? So I think we have to be fair,” Prabowo added.

“The police must sort themselves out. I am a TNI alumnus, the TNI must sort itself out. I don’t like my institution, which is so loved by the people, to be tarnished by officials. I think you can see how many three-star generals, two-star generals we have dismissed, handed over to the prosecutor’s office,” Prabowo continued.

As a former Minister of Defence, Prabowo also reaffirmed his commitment to taking action against officers proven to violate the law at present. He mentioned that several high-ranking officers have been dismissed and legally processed, including in handling major cases like Asabri, which was handed over to the prosecutor’s office.

“When I was Minister of Defence, you can count. Well, Asabri we sorted out. Right? The old one said it couldn’t be touched because there were many generals there, we handed it over to the prosecutor’s office. I made a letter requesting the prosecutor’s office to act,” he said.