Indonesian President Joko Widodo faced mounting pressure yesterday to replace his only pick for national police chief after Indonesia’s anti-graft agency declared the nominee a corruption suspect.
The choice of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan, suspected by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of receiving bribes, casts doubt on Widodo’s campaign promise to deliver clean governance.
Indonesia’s Parliament, which has a patchy record on graft, endorsed Gunawan on Thursday with a near unanimous vote, clearing the way for his inauguration as police chief.
Indonesia is at a crossroads, the Jakarta Globe, said in an op-ed.
“If [Gunawan] is inaugurated, Indonesia will have a graft suspect as police chief, a humiliation for the nation and Widodo will face nationwide protests from the very people who helped him become president,” the op-ed said.
Gunawan is close to former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri — the leader of Widodo’s political party — and many consider the nomination a political maneuver aimed at appeasing Megawati.
Widodo has said he chose Gunawan on a recommendation from Indonesia’s National Police Commission.
Widodo is seen as a break with Indonesia’s entrenched political establishment.
However, Indonesians this week took to social media to criticize him, with hashtags such as “ShameOnYouJokowi” and “WhereAreYouMrPresident” trending on social media Web site Twitter. Widodo is commonly known by the nickname Jokowi in Indonesia.
The KPK, a hugely popular agency with a perfect record of convictions, has been investigating suspect bank accounts held by Gunawan since July last year.
This week it imposed a six-month travel ban on Gunawan and expects to start questioning witnesses “soon,” a KPK official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told reporters.
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