Ivany Atina Arbi and Ghina Ghaliya, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has proposed the National Police's criminal investigation department (Bareskrim) head Comr. Gen. Idham Aziz to replace former police chief Tito Karnavian, who was inaugurated as the new Home Minister on Wednesday.
"We proposed [Idham's name] to the House of Representatives today [Wednesday]," Jokowi said after inaugurating members of his new Indonesia Onward Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace.
House deputy speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad confirmed they had received Idham's name from the Palace, but the House could not agree on the proposal just yet.
"We will conduct a fit and proper test [for Idham] after the inauguration of the House Commission III [overseeing legal affairs] next week," the Gerindra Party politician said.
He added that the National Police's deputy chief Comr. Gen. Ari Dono would serve as the acting police chief in the meantime.
Jokowi had sent a letter dated Monday to the House requesting the approval for Tito to be discharged from his position as the nation's top cop, to which members of the House gave their blessing during a plenary meeting on Tuesday.
House speaker Puan Maharani previously confirmed that Tito had also delivered his letter of resignation both as the nation's top police officer and from the police force itself.
Before serving as chief of detectives in January this year, Idham had led the Jakarta Police since July 2017. The 56-year-old officer had previously served in the police's Densus 88 counterterrorism squad, where together with Tito, he reportedly captured one of the masterminds behind the Bali Bombings, Azhari Husin, in 2005.