March 3, 2015 edition
POLITICAL tension surged when Ahmad Syafii Maarif declared that the sole candidacy of Budi Gunawan as the national police chief was not the initiative of President Joko Widodo. The statement angered the police and politicians, including Megawati Soekarnoputri, chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
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February 24, 2015 edition
THERE is no question that Triawan Munaf's background qualifies him to be chairman of the Creative Economy Board (Bekraf). He certainly is no stranger to the world of creative industry. During the 1970s he was a vocalist with the Bandung-based rock band Giant Step and a decade later, set up the Euro RSCG Adwork company. The company was the agency that came up with the logo of a red bull, which is now the icon of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). "I have worked with creative people for decades," said Triawan.
He is convinced that this sector has huge potential. In his books, the potential can earn Rp500 trillion, or seven percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP). He predicts that five years from now, this figure can double to 14 percent of GDP. He cites as example, the popular computer game 'Slide The Block', which was created by Alegrium, a local company. "This game is now rated in the top four by the App Store. Amazing, right?" said Triawan.
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January 1, 1970 edition
QUITE a few critics have expressed their doubts about the capacity of Muhammad Prasetyo as attorney general. Based on his tenure as deputy attorney general for general crimes between 2005 and 2006, he was regarded as an average performer. Add to that, the fact that he later became a full-time politician.
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January 1, 1970 edition
THE police arrested him after he dropped his daughter off at the Nurul Fikri Elementary School in Depok, West Java, three weeks ago. He was handcuffed and asked to get into a police car, and driven to the National Police Headquarters in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
Since the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) indictment of Police Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, Bambang Widjojanto knew he and other KPK leaders would be targeted. It was not long before he was proven right. He was charged with urging a witness to commit perjury during a trial over the contested results of local elections at West Kotawaringin, an area in Central Kalimantan, back in 2010.
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January 1, 1970 edition
POLEMICS are back again at Trunojoyo, headquarters of the National Police Force. The situation is not unlike the tense situation leading to the 2001 incident, when President Abdurrahman Wahid forced the swearing-in of Police Comr. Gen. Chaerudin Ismail as the police chief without the approval of the House of Representatives (DPR) and without a baton-handover ceremony, signifying a transfer of the command chain. Recently, Police Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti was appointed acting national police chief, replacing Gen. Sutarman, also without the usual rituals signalling a change in the chain of command. "Actually, the presidential decree is not about his appointment as the acting police chief, but as the current deputy police chief to carry out the duties of the chief," explained Badrodin.
Badrodin's appointment went ahead because President Joko Widodo postponed the appointment of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as the police chief. The decision was taken after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) indicted Budi Gunawan for bribery and accepting illegal gratification, when he was chief of the human resources division at the National Police Headquarters between 2003 and 2006.
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January 1, 1970 edition
President Joko Widodo has announced he will delay the induction of Police Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as the next police chief. The president will, however, dismiss Police Chief Gen. Sutarman, although no replacement will be immediately appointed. The deferment is a compromise between two conflicting camps: the politicians, notably Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Budi's principal backer as the next police chief and Jokowi's grassroots supporters which reject Budi because he has been indicted for the crime of receiving illegal gratuities.
The decision was made following widespread protests over Jokowi's appointment of Budi Gunawan as the sole candidate for the police top job, overriding public information that his Rp54 billion bank account came from suspicious sources. This is why Budi's nomination triggered sharp protests. Jokowi is seen to be breaking his promise to eradicate corruption. Unlike the way he selected his cabinet ministers, this time around he never asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the anti-money laundering Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK) to check his candidate's background.
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January 13, 2015 edition