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Badrodin for chief is no better than Budi

Jakarta Globe Editorial - February 19, 2015

In Jokowi's move, few positives for beleaguered KPK – Jakarta Globe. February 19, 2015
Activists say canceling Budi's nomination too little too late – Jakarta Globe. February 18, 2015
Jokowi suspends KPK chief, deputy and appoints replacements – Jakarta Globe. February 18, 2015
Jokowi drops Budi Gunawan's nomination as national police chief – Jakarta Globe. February 18, 2015
South Sulawesi police name KPK chief a suspect in forgery case – Jakarta Post. February 17, 2015

If Megawati Soekarnoputri can claim credit for establishing Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, then it's her hand-picked president, Joko Widodo, who could very well be overseeing its demise.

Joko on Wednesday suspended two of the KPK's commissioners, including chairman Abraham Samad, after the latter was formally named a suspect by the police in a document forgery case that is clearly trumped up.

Tellingly, Joko never moved to suspend Budi Gunawan, the would-be police chief, after he was named a graft suspect by the KPK last month, in a move that prompted a torrent of transparently retaliatory criminal charges by the police against the KPK commissioners.

Joko has, though, finally decided to scrap his nomination of Budi for police chief, putting forward instead the current deputy chief, Badrodin Haiti.

This, of course, only constitutes a step forward on a purely Lilliputian scale – Badrodin was among the police generals identified by the government's anti-money-laundering watchdog for having suspiciously large amounts of money flowing through their bank accounts, a "fat account" tag he shares with Budi.

Let's put that into perspective: Joko swapped out one shady police general for another, while suspending half of the KPK's leadership.

That it took him more than a month to effectively do nothing except allow the KPK to be further undermined is deplorable. His predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, often criticized for being indecisive, took to Twitter on Sunday to plead for divine aid to "guide our leaders to prioritize the interests of the country, and not their own."

Allowing the most respected and most effective law enforcement agency in the nation be torn apart by what is arguably the most corrupt is decidedly not in the interests of the Indonesian public.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-badrodin-chief-better-budi/.