Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo called several figures to a meeting at the Merdeka Palace here Sunday night to enquire about their views on the polemic over the relations between the National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
"We were asked to give inputs on the relations between the KPK and the National Police (Polri)," former Constitutional Court (MK) chief Jimly Asshidiqie told a press conference after accompanying President Joko Widodo at a meeting with the figures.
The President had originally invited seven figures to the meeting but only six of them showed up. Prof. Syafii Maarif was not present because he was out of the city, Jimly said.
Jimly said no formal independent team had been set up to resolve the problem between the Polri and the KPK.
But the President would ask them to give their views to the President about the problem in the future, he added.
"We are trying to ease tensions in the public, pursue transparent law enforcement, and ensure that both KPK and Polri have support from all of us. The KPK and Polri must work to uphold the law. We can give inputs any time and communicate with the police and the KPK," he said.
The six figures who were present at the Palace included former KPK commissioners Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean and Erry Riyana, former MK chief Jimly Asshidiqie, former deputy chief of the National Police Comsr. Gen. (ret) Oegroseno, and law expert Hikmahanto Juwana.
The relations between the police and the KPK became tense after the anti-graft body named Comsr. Gen Budi Gunawan as a graft suspect in connection with certain rewards he allegedly received through suspicious transactions.
The KPK named Gunawan as a suspect just a few days after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo nominated him as the sole candidate for the post of the national police chief.
Moreover, the Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim) of the National Police Headquarters arrested KPK Deputy Chairman Bambang Widjojanto on Friday (January 23).
According to spokesman for the police Insp. Gen. Ronny Sompie, Widjojanto, who was arrested on Friday (January 23) morning, was charged with prompting witnesses to give false testimony at a session of the Constitutional Court on an election dispute in Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan, when he was a lawyer in 2010. (WDY)
