Civil Servants May Have Four Wives, Tjahjo Kumolo: Hoax

JAKARTA - The Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (MenPAN RB) Tjahjo Kumolo denied that there was a report saying that he allowed the state civil apparatus (ASN) to have four wives. He said this news was a hoax or fake news.

"Adding a wife is the only requirement that the wife's permission is valid and the manager's permission if the wife is four, what is the permit. The news in the media has already appeared in early 2020. I do not know what media it is", Tjahjo told reporters in Jakarta, Sunday, March 21.

He asked the public not to believe the news immediately. "ASN is allowed by his wife of four. How is this the permission? This is hoax news", he said.

He explained that even if there are state civil servants who wish to remarry or have more than one wife, they must obtain written permission from both parties. The first is the consent of the first wife and the second is from the boss.

If in the future, there is a complaint that there is no permission from the first wife, of course, this will have repercussions for the ASN's career. "If you get married without the permission of the legal wife and the permission of the leadership, it is clear that it is a violation", he said.

"There will definitely be sanctions. The sanctions can be non-job. If they are tough, of course, there will be harsher sanctions", he added.

Furthermore, the former Minister of Home Affairs mentioned that this kind of regulation also existed since the era of President Soeharto. At that time, he emphasized, ASN could not have two wives.

Even now, it is still the same, although it is more lenient as long as there is an agreement between the two parties as he has mentioned. However, if caught remarrying without permission from the wife and leadership, then there are complaints, for example from a legal wife, the ASN can be sanctioned.

"ASN polygamy cases based on complaints from wives are still given non-job sanctions, but not fired. Because in deciding family matters, we don't want to just say it, don't want complaints from friends. There must be evidence, it must be the husband's permission or vice versa", he explained.

He also said that any complaints from ASN remarrying without the permission of the first wife would be processed by the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform together with the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"There will be a hearing to decide the case of ASN violation", he concluded.