Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The battle between the police and the Attorney General's Office on one side against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on the other side provides President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with nothing but political burden, analysts say.
The battle is known by the public as lizards versus crocodiles, after National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, famously said "Can a lizard fight a crocodile?" when he found out the KPK had wiretapped him during a phone conversation.
"I believe the President should have been able to settle this issue from the start using his political power, but now, the fire of the battle has grown too big even for the President to handle," a legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Nasir Jamil, said during the discussion at the House of Representatives in Senayan, South Jakarta, on Monday.
"The issue between the police, the AGO and the KPK has now spread into the political and social domains. The President has tried to resolve this by establishing a fact-finding team. However, the question remains, does that team has enough legitimacy to summon anyone to settle the brouhaha?" he added.
A political expert from Charta Politika, Yunarto Wijaya, said the President's late response on the issue could open doors for his current political partners to take advantage in the future, especially in the 2014 general elections.
"As always, this issue can be used by the President's current political partners, who silently hold ambitions to take the leadership role in the 2014 general elections," he said.
"It's been custom for a political coalition to consolidate in the first two years, really working together in the third year, and trying to gain the support of voters by continuously attacking the government in the final two years," he added. "However, now (Yudhoyono) has already faced a major social issue from the start. This could be a problem," he added.
The police arrested the KPK deputy chairmen, Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, last week. The arrest of Chandra and Bibit has sparked controversy. The public deem the arrest is nothing but the police's personal vendetta against the KPK, because it managed to wiretap Susno.
The police, however, reject the idea and say Chandra and Bibit have been arrested because their continual expressions of opinion through press conferences have disturbed their investigation.
The police's reasoning was considered nonsense by the public, and the support for Chandra and Bibit has gained momentum, in the off-line world and online via Facebook. The Facebook group dedicated to Chandra and Hamzah had reached almost 450,000 supporters during the time of writing.
Meanwhile, leaders of the House of Representives have yet to take a firm stance on the issue, despite mounting demand from civil groups for the release of Chandra and Bibit. House Speaker Marzuki Alie from the Democratic Party, only said the police must be fully transparent in revealing their reasons for arresting the two KPK commissioners.