A Boomerang For Jokowi If Supporters Lift Novel Baswedan And Partners As Civil Servants Through Presidential Decree, Accused Of Controlling The KPK

Illustration-Inauguration of KPK Employees as ASN (Photo: Screenshot of KPK Youtube)

JAKARTA - Former Deputy Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Saut Situmorang advised 75 KPK employees who were declared not to have passed the National Insight Test (TWK) to stay motivated.

Saut believes that 75 KPK employees, including Novel Baswedan, will be appointed as State Civil Apparatus (ASN) through a Presidential Decree (Keppres).

Saut's statement received satire from Social Media Activist Eko Kuntadhi. For Eko, it is funny when President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is asked to be involved in the KPK drama through a Presidential Decree.

"Imagine the President being asked to be involved in the KPK conflict and drama. For me, it's easy to read the direction that this former employee wants as well as the direction that Saut Situmorang conveyed, they want to encourage the president to return to being a girl because of the ongoing chaos and drama," Eko explained, as quoted by VOI via CokroTV's YouTube channel, Friday, June 4.

Jokowi's involvement through the Presidential Decree was once requested when Novel Baswedan was caught in a case of alleged mistreatment of the perpetrators of theft of swallow's nests. At that time, Novel served as Head of Criminal Investigation Unit at the Bengkulu Police in 2004.

President Jokowi was asked to issue a policy that freed Novel from prosecution due to the death of the suspect in the swallow's nest case.

"Because Novel was exposed to that case, the pressure on the president to intervene could actually backfire, the president could be accused of wanting to control the KPK, right, it's dangerous," said Eko.

The most appropriate is the steps taken by a number of KPK employees who brought this issue through a judicial review to the Constitutional Court (MK). Judicial Review of the Decommissioning Decree and Commissioner Regulation Number 1 of 2021.

Moreover, continued Eko, it is strange that the legal basis for the appointment of dozens of KPK employees to become ASN is the same as the appointment of commissioners as KPK leaders.

"While both of them are appointed with the same legal force? Even though their functions and authorities are very different! The KPK commissioners are elected through legal and political mechanisms through the DPR and others, after graduating they are then appointed,"

"Besides, the habit of encouraging the president to deal with internal affairs in a state institution has the potential to degrade the president himself. This is the president, it's as if the state organization's systems and mechanisms don't work, anything has to be president, anything has to be president! I think President Jokowi also doesn't want to be in a scenario like this," said Eko.