President Joko Widodo to Discuss Budi Gunawan Fiasco With Lawmakers

Jakarta Globe, Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Apr 05, 2015

Former National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan. (JG
Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo is expected to discuss the canceled nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as National Police chief in a meeting with senior lawmakers scheduled for Monday.

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo on Sunday confirmed that he, chief security minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly and State Secretary Pratikno would be in attendance, along with House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto and his four deputies.

The meeting will discuss the controversy surrounding the canceled nomination of Budi as police chief after he was named a bribery suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in January, according to Trimedya Pandjaitan, deputy head of the House’s Commission III, overseeing legal affairs.

Joko settled on Budi as his sole candidate for National Police chief despite a red flag on his personal financial reports issued by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, or PPATK, in 2010.

Lawmakers approved the president’s decision a day after the KPK officially declared Budi a graft suspect.

Joko finally withdrew his nomination following a mounting public outcry, a move lawmakers considered a deviation from the House’s orders.

Meanwhile, police dug up cold cases against all four KPK commissioners and dozens of investigators.

The sudden onslaught of cases, some of them a decade old and all leveled on dubious grounds, raised accusations of a retaliation by the police.

Trimedya, a senior politician with Joko’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, sees the meeting as a progressive step forward in the matter, saying: “Joko is ready to meet and consult with [lawmakers] to discuss these issues.

“He must remember that as president, it is his duty to maintain a smooth avenue of communication within the government,” he added.

Today’s meeting will be Joko’s first audience with lawmakers since his inauguration in October last year.