As well as being a gimmick, promises about National Police reforms have deceived the people. Increasingly, the police are being used as a political tool.
THE people of Indonesia have not only become the butt of the joke that is police reforms, but have also been comprehensively deceived by President Prabowo Subianto. The revisions to the National Police (Polri) Law, which were deliberated hastily and behind closed doors, then approved by the House of Representatives (DPR) last week, are completely at odds with the 3,000 pages of recommendations from the Commission for the Acceleration of Police Reforms.
These revisions were drawn up to accommodate three things: an increase in the police retirement age, the assignment of officers to civilian posts, and the weakening of the role of the National Police Commission. However, beefing up the National Police Commission as the supervisor of Polri was the only positive recommendation of six suggestions that the reform acceleration commission made to President Prabowo on May 5, 2026.
Raising the police retirement age not only accommodates the desire of Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo to remain National Police Chief until 2029. Under the existing regulations, the retirement age for police officers is 58. The new law increases this to 60, and for four-star generals, it can be increased further at the discretion of the president.
Under the new rules, Listyo Sigit will not retire next year. He will remain as Police Chief until the 2029 presidential election, and even longer if President Prabowo wishes it. This means that once again the police will be vulnerable to being used as stooges by a particular presidential candidate to put pressure on and influence voters. Under Listyo, the police backing of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 election was plain for all to see.
An increase in the retirement age also provides plenty of opportunities for police officers to occupy civilian positions. Raising the pension age will lead to large numbers of officers taking up civilian posts. And by enacting this National Police Law, the government and the House have brazenly annulled Constitutional Court Ruling No. 114/PUU/XXIII/2025, which stated that serving police officers must resign or retire when taking up civilian positions. The constitutional judges took the view that serving officers occupying such positions is likely to lead to conflicts of interest.
The Police Reform Acceleration Commission was established by President Prabowo in response to the public demand in large demonstrations in August 2025, following police brutality that led to the death of an online motorbike taxi driver who had been caught up in the demonstration. Prabowo asked for constitutional law experts to produce a design for changes to the National Police in order to end brutality.
One idea emerging from the reform commission was the proposed establishment of a national security ministry, which Polri would be subordinate to. However, this idea faded away because it was opposed by police generals sitting on the commission. President Prabowo instead decided to maintain the status quo when receiving the reform commission’s recommendations for improvements. The gimmick and public deception of police reforms reached an anticlimax with the passing of revisions to the Police Law, which were entirely at odds with the commission’s recommendations.
There is no longer any hope that the Indonesian police will improve under the Prabowo administration. He has been lulled into complacency by the services the police have provided in establishing kitchens for the free nutritious meal program and the corn harvest ruse. If the police can be used to manage presidential priority projects outside their remit, it is not impossible that Prabowo will continue to use them for his political interests in the future, including garnering votes in the 2029 presidential election.
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