The Desire Of The National Police Chief Listyo To Withdraw The Surprising Novel Baswedan Et Al

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo (photo: humas.polri.go.id)

JAKARTA - An employee of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who was expelled for failing the National Insight Test Assessment (TWK) admitted that he was surprised to hear that the National Police Chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, wanted to make them a State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in the Bhayangkara Corps.

In addition to being shocked, they considered the discourses that Listyo put forward to prove that the implementation of the TWK was a condition for the transfer of employment status at the anti-corruption commission.

A non-active employee of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Hotman Tambunan, appreciates the desire of the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to withdraw him and 55 other employees to become Polri ASN. He is one of dozens of employees who will be dismissed by the KPK today, Thursday 30 September for failing to switch status to ASN according to the mandate of the KPK Law Number 19 of 2019.

"Frankly, we are surprised and thank you for the attention of the National Police Chief," said Hotman to reporters, Wednesday, September 29.

However, the offer made him even more convinced that the tests he had run some time ago were indeed problematic. "One thing for us is that (the offer, ed) proves that there is a problem in our TWK," said Hotman.

He also considers Listyo's offer to be a breaker of the stigma generated after they failed to pass the test. Moreover, the KPK leadership once said that dozens of employees who were dismissed were those who could no longer be fostered after receiving red points from assessors who were on duty during the implementation of the TWK.

"That's unexpected, right and proves that our TWK has problems. The police just want to recruit us. I still see it like that," said Hotman.

Will it be accepted?

Hotman admitted that until now there has been no direct communication or information regarding Listyo's desire to withdraw him to the Bhayangkara Corps. According to him, all the information he heard was from the media.

In addition, Hotman also said that dozens of employees were still consolidating further while at the same time confirming whether Listyo's statement was the government's stance on the recommendation of the Indonesian Ombudsman and Komnas HAM. The two institutions have stated that TWK has problems ranging from maladministration to violating the rights of employees.

Similarly, the inactive Director of Socialization and Anti-Corruption Campaign of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Giri Suprapdiono, said that he and dozens of employees were still discussing Listyo's offer. So they have not provided an answer because there are still many things that actually need to be questioned from this plan.

"There are many questions and things that need to be clarified regarding this policy plan. Later we will officially convey it after our stance is clear," Giri told reporters.

Agreeing with two of his colleagues, other inactive employees Ita Khoiriyah or Tata also said they did not want to give a stance because they wanted to hear the details of the withdrawal plan. "We are still waiting for a more detailed explanation because there are many factors that need to be considered by all of us," he said.

Moreover, Tata revealed that the struggle of the employees against the results of the TWK was not just because of losing their jobs. "But stigmatization, maladministration, and human rights violations in the implementation of TWK transfer the status of KPK employees," said Tata.

It was previously reported that 57 employees were declared unable to work at the KPK because they could not become ASN according to the mandate of the KPK Law Number 19 of 2019 as of the end of September. The employees include senior KPK investigators Novel Baswedan and Ambarita Damanik, Chairman of the KPK Employee Forum Yudi Purnomo, KPK investigator Harun Al-Rasyid, and dozens of other names.

The anti-corruption commission argues that their inability to become ASN is not due to laws and regulations such as Perkom KPK Number 1 of 2021 but because of the results of their assessment.

Ahead of the dismissal, the National Police Chief admitted that he wanted to recruit 56 KPK employees who did not pass the TWK to become Polri ASN. This desire was conveyed in a letter to President Jokowi last week and was approved.

The reason Sigit wants to recruit dozens of employees is because the Police need human resources to strengthen the line of action against corruption cases. Moreover, the National Police is currently also focusing on handling the COVID-19 recovery.