Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The new National Police chief to replace incumbent Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri must posses a commitment to reforming the institution, not only at a bureaucratic level, but mentally as well, legislators say.

"A National Police chief must have a clear vision of how to change the mindset of institution members, from the very bottom. Therefore, we need someone who has a relatively good track record," House Commission III on Law and Human Rights deputy chairman Tjatur Sapto Edi told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday.

Tjatur, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said he had used the word "relatively" because none of the current candidates had completely clean records.

Eight names have been proposed for the position, including current deputy chief Comr. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, general supervision inspector Comr. Gen. Nanan Sukarna, chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi, North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Timur Pradopo, training and development chief Insp. Gen. Imam Sudjarwo, East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Pratiknyo and Police School for Leadership (Sespim) lecturer Insp. Gen. Bambang Suparno.

Tjatur said each candidate had good and bad elements in their track records.

"For example, during his tenure as West Kalimantan Police chief, Nanan demonstrated his commitment to corruption eradication when he obligated all officers to wear a badge saying "I am against corruption".

But in North Sumatra there was an incident in which a regional legislative council speaker was killed under Nanan's supervision as the chief of police of that region," he said.

Previously, Nanan had been tipped as the strongest and perhaps sole candidate. However, later developments saw new figures begin to emerge.

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) president Neta S. Pane earlier said Suparno could be the strongest rival for Nanan, because the lecturer was clearly Bambang's preferred candidate.

Suparno, however, was recently among several high-ranking officers reported by Tempo magazine for having a suspicious bank account containing billions of rupiah.

Separately, one of the House deputy speakers, Pramono Anung from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), urged the police to resolve the bank account case as quickly as possible to prevent any assumptions that it was being used to prevent some candidates from being elected as the new chief.

"A new case is always unravelled ahead of any police chief replacement. So, this latest case must be solved as soon as possible," Pramono said.

The bank account case is the latest blow to the force in recent times. Previously, the police were involved in a feud with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), during which it was made known to the public that numerous police officers had conspired with Anggodo Widjojo, the younger brother of fugitive graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo, to frame two KPK deputy chairmen with bribery.

The feud cost Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji his job as the National Police chief detective Susno subsequently revealed case brokering within the institution, which brought the National Police further under public scrutiny.