Criticism Of Distribution Of Novels Baswedan Et Al, Abraham Samad: Friends Are Not Job Seekers

Abraham Samad/Wardhany No No-VOI

JAKARTA - Former Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Abraham Samad criticized the distribution of the dismissed Novel Baswedan et al to other institutions such as BUMN. According to him, the 58 employees who were dismissed because they did not pass the National Insight Test Assessment were not job seekers.

"Friends of the anti-corruption fighters are not job seekers who are simply channeled to SOEs," Abraham said during a speech after the dismissal of 58 KPK employees at the KPK Supervisory Board Office, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, September 30.

He admitted that he was saddened by the dismissal of Novel Baswedan et al. In fact, Abraham said the wheels of eradicating corruption at the KPK are still running today because of their contribution.

"I want to emphasize that the wheel of eradicating corruption is still running because there are quite large contributions from the friends of the 57 people who have been dismissed today," he said.

He also believes that the KPK employees who were fired by the leader are anti-corruption fighters. The reason is that they are people who are dedicated to eradicating corruption indiscriminately.

Abraham admitted that he would continue to demand President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s promise to take over the authority and restore the dignity of the dismissed employee. Moreover, the dismissal of dozens of employees violated the law.

"Therefore, we are not beggars to ask for these 57 people to be distributed as ASN in other places, but we still consistently ask that these friends be returned to their original positions," he said.

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 KPK 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.

There is also the reason Sigit wants to recruit tens of these employees because the Police need human resources to strengthen the line of prosecution of corruption cases. Moreover, the National Police is currently also focusing on handling the COVID-19 recovery.