Bagus BT Saragih and Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo could not hide his happiness during his farewell party at Jakarta Police headquarters Thursday despite heavy criticism of his appointment as the sole candidate for the post of National Police chief.

After raising doubts about his commitment to human rights and his embrace of vigilante groups such as the Islam Defenders Front, critics continued to question his track records, saying that under his leadership, reform within the National Police might fail.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW)'s Emerson Yuntho questioned Timur's commitment to fighting corruption. "We've never seen any breakthrough to tackle corruption within the police force under his leadership," he said.

Anticorruption is key to police reform, which started several years ago but has not shown any significant progress, he said. "Corruption is an acute disease. A police chief should take the lead in tackling it otherwise police reform will never happen," Emerson added.

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) echoed the sentiment, saying that police reform, which had stagnated during the tenure of Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, would be a tough challenge for Timur, who had a less than stellar record on many issues. "Timur has the experience of being a regional police chief several times but that is not enough," IPW's Neta S. Pane said.

The National Police have seen little progress in their "community policing" program, which aims to bridge the gap between law enforcers and the public, he added. "The Jakarta Police, under Timur's leadership, have also failed to improve on the program's results," Neta said.

Al Araf from human rights NGO Imparsial said Timur's disregard of a summons from the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) was indicative of the police's grip on its "culture of violence".

Several critics questioned Timur's commitment to upholding human rights when in 2003 he ignored a summons from Komnas HAM to testify in the case of the fatal Trisakti riots, where four students were shot dead. Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Timur's attitude was inappropriate for a high-ranking officer.

"The police have received the most complaints of all state institutions in terms of human rights violations. Given Timur's record, we doubt he can remove the stigma from the police force," Ifdhal said.

Timur himself has not been budged by the criticism. "I have proven myself to the public during my service here. The people of Jakarta can judge my performance," he said.

There is widespread speculation that Timur's sudden appointment as the sole candidate by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was politically motivated.

"Internal rifts in the police, resentment and high-level politicking have heightened the tension surrounding his appointment," Neta said.

A police source said outgoing police chief Bambang was surprised to hear of Timur's appointment as he had nominated Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna and Comr. Gen. Imam Sudjarwo. Sources said Bambang himself favored Nanan but Yudhoyono was wary of Nanan's political stance.

Timur, however, received a warm welcome from the House of Representatives as most political parties had signaled that Timur would not face difficulties during the fit-and-proper test scheduled for next week.

Taufiq Kiemas, the chief patron of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said his party had no problems with Timur.

The Golkar Party's Priyo Budi Santoso said, "We will accept anybody proposed by the President." Similar statements were also voiced by the United Development Party, the People's Awakening Party and the Prosperous Justice Party. (ipa)