September 17, 2025 | 08:22 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi stated that the composition of the members and legal instruments of the Police Reform Team will be announced this week. However, Prasetyo did not specify the exact date.
"Wait, Insha Allah, within this week," said Prasetyo at the State Palace in Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.
The minister mentioned that President Prabowo Subianto wants the public to love the police. Therefore, several improvements and evaluations are needed within the Indonesian National Police institution.
"Prabowo's desire is for the awaited Police Reform Committee to be in preparation," he said.
One of the names mentioned in the team is Mahfud Md, the former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs during Joko Widodo's government (2014-2024). When asked about Mahfud Md's name, Prasetyo stated that the Presidential Palace has not yet appointed a team leader. This is because the government is still assembling the team. "In preparation," he said.
The demand for police improvements surfaced during the wave of protests at the end of August and early September 2025. These demonstrations resulted in the deaths of 10 people, including an online motorcycle-taxi driver named Affan Kurniawan, who was run over by a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) tactical vehicle on Thursday night, August 28, 2025.
The tragic incident triggered mass protests in Jakarta and various regions, accompanied by riots and the burning of police stations and Regional People's Representative Council buildings. The house of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, before the cabinet reshuffle on September 8, 2025, and four members of the House of Representatives (DPR) were also damaged and looted by the masses.
President Prabowo is said to have agreed to establish a police reform team. Prabowo conveyed his approval during a discussion with several figures involved in the People's Conscience Movement at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
Former Chair of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) Gomar Gultom, who participated in the meeting, stated that during the discussion, they conveyed to President Prabowo to evaluate and reform the Indonesian National Police. "The President will soon establish a team or commission for police reform. I think this is also in response to the demands of the public, which are quite considerable," Gultom said after the three-hour meeting at the Presidential Palace.
Gultom stated that Prabowo already has a concept for police reform. The People's Conscience Movement, he said, believes that the President should evaluate and reorganize the leadership of the Indonesian National Police and its policies. The goal is for the police to no longer act repressively in violation of human rights and the constitutional rights of citizens.
Police observer from the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS), Bambang Rukminto, believes that the establishment of the Police Reform Team should not stop at replacing the Chief of the Indonesian National Police. "If the establishment of the Police Reform Team is only to expedite the replacement of the Chief of Police without addressing the more substantial problems within the Indonesian National Police organization, it is nothing more than pie in the sky," said Bambang in a written statement on Friday, September 12, 2025.
Bambang argues that the president's prerogative is sufficient to replace the Police Chief. Therefore, the establishment of an independent team or commission must be directed at overhauling the police institution as a whole. He sees the most fundamental step as revising the Police Law.
"Revising the Police Law is important as a basis for building a professional, independent, and accountable Indonesian National Police organization," said Bambang.
Eka Yudha Saputra and Intan Setiawanty contributed to this article
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