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.