Haryanti Puspa Sari, Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – A number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are members of the Civil Society Coalition for Police Reform have asked President Prabowo Subianto to prioritise the National Police (Polri) reform agenda.
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Deputy Chairperson for Advocacy and Networking, Arif Maulana, questioned Prabowo's attitude in failing to meet with the National Police Reform Acceleration Committee (KPRP) but has instead been making visits overseas.
"President Prabowo Subianto, who was supposed to focus on his commitment to fix Polri, has in fact not meet with the KPRP because he has been busy participating in the Board of Peace (BoP) formed by Donald Trump, overseas visits, and it's still waiting on an exact meeting date to be arranged by the Minister of State Secretary and Cabinet Secretary. Yet, the KPRP completed its recommendations on February 2, 2026", said Maulana at the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Resonance office in Jakarta on Monday April 27.
Maulana said that police reform is an urgent agenda that must be prioritised by the president to resolve various problems such as practices of criminalisation, fabricated cases, brutality by officers, abuse of power, police businesses, dual positions and practical political practices which have had an impact on the decline of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
"This [needs to be] carried out urgently considering the potential for abuse of authority by the police after the [new] KUHAP [Criminal Code] was passed [in December 2025]", he said.
Maulana is inviting the public and the press to continue to monitor and push for the police reform agenda to maintain upholding of people's sovereignty, the rule of law and human rights.
"[We] urge President Prabowo Subianto to listen to the voices of the people as the owners of sovereignty regarding the community's demands to reform the police. Ignoring the voice of the community has the potential to create distrust in the institutions of the government and police", said Maulana.
On the same occasion, Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Chairperson Nany Afrida urged the KPRP to openly convey the results of its work and recommendations to the public.
"This is a form of the KPRP's accountability which has invited various elements of the public. The public has an interest in ensuring that the inputs submitted have been heard and considered as part of the recommendation preparation process", said Afrida.
Afrida also asked the House of Representatives (DPR) not to remain silent and immediately carry out its function of checks and balances, monitoring government functions that deviate from the people's mandate of accountability and the absence of follow-up to the police reform agenda.
KPRP waiting to meet Prabowo
Earlier, KPRP Chairperson Jimly Asshiddiqie said that the Commission's recommendations were completed two months ago. Despite this, Asshiddiqie said that Prabowo has not yet had time to hold a meeting with the KPRP to discuss the recommendations.
"We want this to happen soon, we finished (the recommendations) two months ago, but the president hasn't had time to receive the report. Yet there are already things that need to be decided", Asshiddiqie said at the opening of the launch of his new book in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday April 21.
Asshiddiqie did not reveal much about the contents of the KPRP's recommendations. He said only that doubts had been raised about the discussion on National Police reform because the Commission comprises five four-star police generals and several figures from civil society.
"There are ten of us, five of whom are four-star [police] generals, so those of us who are civilians, wow, I'm hesitant", said Asshiddiqie.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Minta Prabowo Prioritaskan Agenda Reformasi Polri".]
