Budi Gunawan, the man who President Joko Widodo bizarrely thought would make a suitable police chief, has proved to the country why it's a very good thing that Joko had a last-minute change of heart.

The three-star police general was scheduled to be questioned by investigators at the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, on Friday, but like several of his subordinates before him, chose to flout the summons on the ridiculous grounds that the paperwork wasn't properly signed or delivered.

Budi, who has been named a bribery suspect by the KPK over his suspiciously "fat" bank accounts, has always claimed that he has nothing to hide. So why did he pull a no-show? Was he scared of being taken into custody, given the KPK's tradition of detaining suspects after questioning on Friday? Or did he fear that the truth about his accounts would come to light?

If this is the quality of officer we can expect to lead the police force, then we're much better off in the current state of limbo where there is no National Police chief.

Budi could learn a lesson or two from KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto in how a law enforcement official should conduct himself. Bambang was arrested by police last week and held for several hours. Upon his release, he had no outlandish excuses to make, no recriminations – instead, he thanked the police for doing their job and for granting him conditional release.

Nor has Bambang – or the other KPK commissioners, for that matter, all of them facing very dubious probes – surrounded himself with heavily armed guards, as Budi has.

One of these men has nothing to hide, and one of them clearly has skeletons in his closet. Or should that be in his bank accounts?

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-budi-gunawan-isnt-cut-chief/