Speculation on new police chief intensifies

Speculation on new police chief intensifies

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

When Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) took power as the sixth
Indonesian president in October last year, many believed that
Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, the national police chief, would be the first
Cabinet member to be removed from his post. The reason for this
was not so much Da'i's poor performance but rather the clear
impression that the four-star general leaned heavily toward
Megawati Soekarnoputri during the presidential election campaign.

The May 28 Tentena bombings that killed at least 20 people
are, however, certain to hurt his image and weaken his chances of
holding on to his job as the public will be reminded that he has
been notably unsuccessful in preventing bomb attacks, and that
since the Bali bombings in 2002, the police have failed to
capture the two alleged masterminds behind the bombings,
Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh Top, who police say
were behind most of the mayor bombing outrages in the country,
including Tentena.

The statement by People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker
Hidayat Nur Wahid -- who was later quoted by SBY -- to the effect
that the government should now evaluate the police's performance
appeared to be more or less squarely at Da'i.

Megawati appointed him to the position shortly after she
replaced president Abdurahman Wahid in July 2001. Da'i was less
controversial than his two predecessors and as a former police
spokesman he is well versed in dealing with the media.

President Susilo set a three-month deadline for Da'i to arrest
the fugitives Dr. Azahari and Nurdin Top, who have been linked to
at least three major terrorists attack, the Bali tragedy that
killed about 200 people in 2002, the JW Marriot attack in 2003,
and the Australian Embassy attack in 2004.

Despite speculation that Da'i would be replaced on the eve of
the President's announcement of his Cabinet, seven months later
there is no sign that the general will be removed from his
strategic post.

To convince SBY and the public that he is still the best
option available, Da'i, who graduated from the police academy in
1972, has tried hard to boost his image by cracking down on drugs
and street crime, while underlining what he says are his
successes in dealing with terrorist crimes.

Appointing his close aide, Insp. Gen. Firman Gani, from East
Java Police chief to Jakarta Police chief while promoting Makbul
Padmanagara to a three-star general, both in 2004, may be seen as
an attempt to strengthen his internal support in the police.

Many say that if Da'i was forced to step down, he would fight
to ensure that his closest aide, Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, a
former Jakarta Police chief, would replace him.

Makbul, 50, now a three-star general with no specific posting
in headquarters after several months serving as National
Narcotics Agency chief before being replaced by Comr. Gen.
Sutanto earlier this year, has a mixed reputation.

During his period as Jakarta Police chief, the capital was hit
by a number of bombings, including the 2003 JW Marriott bombing
that killed 12 people. However, during his term the police also
managed to introduce several successful programs, such as the
installing of seatbelts in private cars and taxi, the
establishment of subdistrict police stations, and policing the
busway operation.

Many have criticized him for not reducing the amount of
gambling in the capital as during his period as the city police
chief, numbers rackets and illegal lotteries (togel) spread down
to the neighborhood level with no clear police response.

All in all, Makbul is seen by the public as Da'i's handpicked
successor, and, to some extent, this could serve to weaken his
chances of succeeding Da'i if SBY finds it necessary to eliminate
Da'i's influence in the police once and for all.

From the beginning, many people sensed that Sutanto, who
graduated from the police academy in 1973, the same year as SBY
graduated from military academy, is SBY's personal choice for
national police chief.

Sutanto's quick promotion from two-star general to three-star
general while being appointed chief of the prestigious National
Narcotics Agency from being an unknown officer training unit
chief only a few months after SBY took power, strengthened the
assumption that he would be quickly appointed chief of police.

Officers at National Police Headquarters have said that
promoting Sutanto would be "complicated" as he has a track record
of taking tough action against gambling, while the gambling
bosses have a huge influence with many senior officials inside
both the police and government.

When Sutanto was the North Sumatra Police chief and then East
Java Police chief, he arrested many gambling bosses in both
provinces, and made gambling bosses in other provinces tremble.

If Makbul is seen as being "too Da'i" and Sutanto as too
tough, and if seniority and a compromises are sought, then the
current deputy national police chief, Comr. Gen. Adang Dorojatun,
who enjoys seniority over Da'i in that he graduated from the
police academy in 1971, would be an obvious choice for the job.

There is, however, little of note about the low profile Adang
except that he was the former West Java Police chief and National
Police security and order chief before being promoted to deputy
chief in 2004.

So who will be the successor to Da'i? The choice lies in the
hands of the President, although the House of Representatives'
official approval is needed.

The writer is a journalist with The Jakarta Post.