Robert Go, Jakarta – If Indonesian police chief General Suroyo Bimantoro makes it into the history books, it will be because of how parliament has turned him into yet another thorn in President Abdurrahman Wahid's side.
Parliament has so far supported and encouraged Gen Bimantoro's defiance against Mr Abdurrahman, who suspended him early last month after his undistinguished nine-month term, and finally sacked him last weekend.
Golkar MP Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, chairman of the Defence, Foreign and Political Affairs Committee, told The Straits Times: "Bimantoro is still our police chief." Yet analysts described his insubordination as the last gasps of a man with nothing to lose – he is scheduled to retire this month.
During his short stint in office, Gen Bimantoro, Mr Abdurrahman's third police chief in 20 months, did little to push forward Indonesian police's reform agenda.
Perhaps his most notable feat was to oversee a beefing-up of the police force's size and weaponry, including the purchase of thousands of Russian assault rifles. That is not much of an achievement when the police and military are heavily scrutinised for alleged human rights violations.
Even his backers in parliament say they do not really care if he stays or goes. PAN legislator Alvin Lie said: "It doesn't matter who heads the police. Our reasons for insisting he is still police chief have nothing to do with the man himself." Mr Yasril agreed: "Parliament's perspective on this is independent of Gen Bimantoro's qualifications or achievements." Gen Bimantoro, who once headed the police force of Bali province, has no clear political ties and does not inspire much loyalty or admiration even within his own force.
More than 100 senior generals signed petitions supporting him last month, yet they also sent congratulatory flowers to Commissioner-General Chaeruddin Ismail, Mr Abdurrahman's new man on the force.
Mr Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic International Studies said: "The sentiment is replacing Bimantoro could be good for the police force's reform goals." So why are legislators so riled up with the way Mr Abdurrahman is treating his police chief? He has breached the Constitution and ignored proper procedures, MPs say, by sacking yet another top police official without parliament's approval.
"We don't care about the chief of police. We don't support Bimantoro, but we reject the President's constitutional breaches," said Mr Lie. Analysts warn, however, that by welcoming parliament's help, Gen Bimantoro is endangering the reform process and is keeping the police involved in politics.