Rusdihardjo's dismissal

Rusdihardjo's dismissal as chief of the National Police must not be seen as the removal of an individual officer. It could well be that Gus Dur (President Abdurrahman Wahid) is disappointed with Rusdihardjo's performance. It would be more correct, however, to see it as his disappointment with the police as an institution.

The inability of the police to catch the perpetrators of the recent bombings is but a morsel in a whole stack of inabilities. In the end, this set of inabilities helped shape its deviant character. The police, which should be arresting and detaining, has been busy chasing and safeguarding. Problems that are bothering the public and should be solved are made into improper sources of profit.

Now, with the police separated from the military, it has to turn itself into a professional law enforcement agency and it isn't ready for the task. They are still luxuriating in the old habit of seeing the resolution of problems as a source of cash instead of a service and a task.

This inability on the part of the police to enforce the law is being further aggravated by President Gus Dur's style of governing, which is not only careless, but confused and explosive.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta