IT is difficult to escape the whiff of political compromise surrounding the appointment of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). Two weeks ago, President Joko Widodo sent a letter to the House of Representatives (DPR) asking that the appointment be approved. He got it the following week.

Having once rejected Budi as the National Police chief, the President has now given him a job no less important: head of an age