Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto (fourth left), accompanied by National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo (third right), greets reporters on June 20, 2024, after receiving the Bintang Bhayangkara Utama, the police's top meritorious service star, in a closed-door ceremony at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta. The award is bestowed on individuals that make meaningful contributions to the National Police. - Photo: Antara
JAKARTA: President-elect Prabowo Subianto was awarded on Thursday (June 20) the police’s top meritorious service star, Bintang Bhayangkara Utama, for his support and contribution to the force, some four months before he assumes the presidency.
Bintang Bhayangkara Utama is the highest award that the National Police bestow on an individual for outstanding contributions to the force or automatically to sitting presidents. Prabowo, who serves as Defence Minister in the cabinet of outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, received the prestigious award in a closed-door conferment ceremony at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday.
Donning a black suit and a red tie, the retired military general arrived at the venue on Thursday afternoon, where chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo and a barricade of police officers welcomed him.
"Thank you, it is an honor," Prabowo told Listyo upon his arrival.
The reason behind the bestowment was “Prabowo’s outstanding support and contribution to the force”, said Insp Gen. Dedi Prasetyo, an assistant to the police chief.
The ceremony took place four months after Prabowo was awarded the rank of honorary four-star military general by Jokowi, decades after the former was dismissed from the military amid allegations of human rights abuses.
Human rights groups were quick to denounce the decision to award Prabowo the police’s top meritorious service star as “politically driven” and accused the police of seeking to safeguard their interests under Prabowo’s incoming government.
Ardi Manto Adiputra, deputy director of human rights advocacy group Imparsial, said that Bintang Bhayangkara Utama should be given to those who have made great contributions to the police institution.
“Yet, we do not see great contributions from Prabowo to the police institution that created benefits for the wider community,” Ardi told The Jakarta Post.
“For this reason, awarding the Bintang Bhayangkara Utama to Prabowo seems political because Prabowo just won the presidential election in February,” Ardi said.
The decision of the police to give the award to the president-elect, Ardi said, “may have many political motives, including seeking to ensure that Prabowo can pay more attention to the police, both in terms of budget and strengthening the institution in other ways, when he assumes office”.
Bambang Rukminto, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS), questioned why the police bestowed the medal on Prabowo some four months before he assumes office in October.
He pointed out that the prevailing 2009 law on titles, honors and awards stipulates that sitting presidents be “the first receivers of all honorary stars”.
“Even if he did not receive Bintang Bhayangkara Utama today, he would still automatically receive it, along with other awards, after he is inaugurated as the president,” Bambang said.
Giving the award to Prabowo months before his presidency begins “was nothing more than a meaningless ceremony staged by the police to get sympathy from the president-elect,” Bambang added.
Prabowo and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi's eldest son, won the February three-horse election in a landslide victory that their rivals say was dependent on the partisanship of the state apparatus, including the police.
The police bestowed the award on Prabowo as the House of Representatives discusses a controversial bill that will revise the 2002 Police Law and grant the force more power but does not address a major underlying problem: how to make the police more accountable for their actions.
The bill includes controversial provisions that will give the police sweeping authority over cyberspace and in conducting surveillance and intelligence work.
Civil groups say the bill would instead further increase the potential for abuse of power amid a shrinking civic space.
Other key changes in the bill are provisions that will raise the retirement age of officers of certain ranks from 58 to between 60 and 65, depending on the role of the officers in question.
The bill will also allow sitting presidents, after consulting with the House, to extend the tenure of four-star police generals – the rank of National Police chiefs – indefinitely, without any clear limitations.
Analysts suspect the revision will benefit several police figures, including Listyo, widely known as a close ally of Jokowi, who is set to retire in 2027. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
