Anita Wahid Asks President Jokowi To Cancel The Dismissal Of 51 KPK Employees

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - Deputy Director of the Public Virtue Research Institute (PVRI), Anita Wahid, regrets that the KPK leadership decision has not been canceled yet to dismiss 51 employees of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), even though it has been more than a month.

President Joko Widodo was urged to cancel the dismissal. The National Civil Service Agency (BKN) was also urged to open the National Insight Test (TWK) document which was used as an excuse to get rid of 51 KPK employees.

“The dismissal of KPK employees is a symptom of democratic regression that has dulled institutions and eradicated corruption in Indonesia. As a result, central and regional powers are increasingly difficult to control. We urge President Jokowi to cancel the decision,” said Anita in a statement received by VOI, Monday, June 21.

He added that PVRI urged BKN to open the TWK document. The president, he continued, must also ensure that there are no violations of the rights of KPK employees in the TWK process.

"The president is obliged to instruct the police to investigate all forms of terror and threats to KPK employees, both when investigating corruption and when questioning the decisions of the KPK leadership. There is also a need for legal protection and security guarantees," Anita continued.

Anita referred to a study by academics from the University of Sydney Thomas Power who stated that the weakening of the KPK was not only carried out through violent methods. Other ways include placing political elites outside the reach of the KPK, discursive delegitimization in the form of labeling "Taliban" to its investigators, appointing active police officers to become KPK leaders, and weakening structural and agency roles.

Most recently, 51 KPK employees were dismissed due to not passing the National Insight Test (TWK) during the process of changing their status to State Civil Apparatus (ASN). Three international institutions such as Transparency International, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International wrote to the President because they considered this dismissal to have no legal basis, violated the principles of good governance, and constituted systematic discrimination, and violated human rights, especially the rights of workers.