House Awaits Certainty About New Police Chief's Inauguration

Jakarta (Antara) - The Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR) is awaiting the results of a consultation meeting between the DPR leadership and President Joko Widodo on the inauguration of Comsr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as National Police chief. "If there is no certainty about the inauguration of new National Police chief in the next two weeks, the DPR will take the next mechanism according to the law," Chief of the House Commission III Aziz Syamsudin said here on Monday. Under Law No. 2/2002 on the National Police, a National Police chief candidate who is nominated by the President and approved by the DPR, s/he must be inaugurated as a National Police chief, Aziz said. However, he added that the House Commission III still has to await the steps taken by the President and the outcome of a consultation meeting between the DPR leadership and the President. "The DPR leadership has written a letter to the President on Friday (January 23) to follow up on the DPR's endorsement of National Police chief candidate," he said. (*)