Civil Service and Merit System

KOMPAS/DIDIE SW

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A circular has just been issued from the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) that prohibits civil servants from spreading misinformation or criticizing Pancasila, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), the 1945 Constitution or the government.

Why has the BKN issued the ban and threat of punishment if Law No. 5/2014 on the State Civil Service (ASN) states that the ASN Law is enforced under merit system protecting board? Anyone who understands the merit system will obviously know that the civil service and personnel must be managed honestly without lying, professionally with discipline and loyally in compliance with the government’s rules and not by the proximity of political power.

Under the law, civil servants are absolutely not permitted to create false news, let alone any that are contrary our Constitution, Pancasila and the NKRI. Why should there be a circular from the BKN on this? Is this not a symptom of manipulating the ASN Law on behalf of the government\'s political will, perhaps because there has been a threat of terrorist and radicals entering the state civil service? Under the ASN Law, the BKN is not a policymaking agency, but a policy-implementing one. The authority to create policy is in the hands of the president, which can be delegated to the minister (in this case the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister) or the State Civil Service Commission. If this incident is neglected, the implementation agency could end up creating policy, which is actually outside its authority, and might bring chaos to the administration’s management and governance.

Managing power

In governmental or non-governmental organizations, power, also called authority, is the organization’s identity or life. The organization is structured on a top-down hierarchy of power. The upper levels of the hierarchy have more power than the levels below. Or, from the perspective of policy science, the topmost hierarchical position holds the power to make policies and the bottommost position implements the policies.

Power can be practiced with a heavy-handed approach, such as threats, coercion, punishments, fines and reprimands if the rules or policies are either unimplemented or violated. There is also the cool approach, involving guidance, direction, dialogue, deliberation, focus group discussion (FGD) and the like. This type of practicing power relies heavily on the quality and mentality, as well as the education, of the person in charge.

It is highly recommended to abandon the heavy-handed approach to practicing power, and is instead suggested that the light-handed approach be taken. The gentle approach is widely known as the human relations approach to management, a management approach that emphasizes human relations. Even though those holding the hierarchy\'s bottommost positions are subordinates that can be subject to sanctions, punishments and the like, they are still human beings. Therefore, the human element requires a gentler approach.

The ASN is a civil apparatus of many members who will be tried by politics, especially in the current political years. When staff are promoted as state civil servants, they are sworn to defend and implement Pancasila, the NKRI and the 1945 Constitution, and to be loyal to the government. Moreover, the merit system is implemented, so that what is the point of the BKN\'s circular, if it is not intended as an authoritarian style of management?

This harsh and authoritarian management style has been widely criticized by experts, especially Dr Mario Baccini, a former public administration minister of Italy. Minister Mario, in 2005, wrote a paper explaining a new culture of administrative management called human governance. The ASN, with its merit system, is highly compatible with this humanitarian approach to management. All processes of ASN management, from recruitment to retirement, are conducted in a professional manner based on honesty, competence, expertise, discipline and loyalty to the rules and government policy.

Normally in a democratic country, all political parties that are involved in political contests, gain a seat of power in the government. Therefore, under a democratic state, a government must be led and executed by a political party that wins the election. It is necessary to maintain the merit system so that the relationship between the civil service and the political party holding government power can comply with what is expected by the merit system, instead of being in a patron-client relationship, or onderbow, with political parties.

Merit system

The nature of the merit system is to maintain neutrality in every process of human resources management, from recruitment to retirement. The meaning of neutrality is to be impartial to external influences, such as politics, economics, religion, ethnicity and family ties. It has to maintain neutrality by maintaining distance from these influences in personnel management. The neutral gatekeeper and implementer rules over the government power-holder in managing personnel.

If, in this case, the government holds executive power, then the government officials must have a neutral spirit and not easily be swayed by economic pressures, such as the temptation of gratuities and bribes. They may also not be easily swayed by the interests of certain political parties, such as promoting their party’s cadres. Nor may they promote members of their family or ethnic groups based on religious affinity. This is the definition of “neutral” in the civil service, which is, to put it simply, built on the principles of honesty, loyalty, discipline, professionalism and expertise based in neutrality. Thus, the ASN\'s merit system, or neutrality principle, aims to develop good human resources to strengthen the implementation of good governance. The merit system was known but improperly applied before the Reform Era. The merit system was applied mostly on the basis of proximity to political power. Many appointments and promotions were determined according to the individual’s close ties with the political entity that promoted them. Today, the ASN Law has straightened the crooked method.

A civil servant’s position as a state official is in fact equal that of a position in the Indonesian Military (TNI) or National Police (Polri), which uphold the neutrality principle against the intervention from opposing powers. In political processes such as the general and regional elections, civil servants and their families should not be permitted to vote or run, as in the case of TNI and Polri personnel and their families. In this way, the ASN and citizens can experience neutrality. The merit system is an institutionalized personnel management system; an institutionalized system is a system that must be applied every day throughout the duration of its implementation.

In addition to the principles of neutrality and honesty, there are also other provisions in the merit system that should not be forgotten. The provisions are (as in the US) that a political party that leads a government or a state must disclose their party interests, and it must realize the ideals of the state through their position. Officials holding a government or regional seat are called state officials, not political officials. If all ruling parties and power holders understood the provisions in this merit system, ASN management would run well and not face too many problems.

In fact, under such a principle, the president elected in the upcoming general election should apply a policy of forming a cabinet based on their expertise in accordance with the merit principle. This means that the seat should not be filled by individuals who do not want to leave behind their party identities, but by those that can relinquish their party identities to become professional state officials.

Two presidential elections produced cabinets periods loaded with party identities in the SBY and Jokowi era. It is no wonder that the ties ministers, even presidents, wear display the colors and symbols of their political parties. Therefore, the next president – even though they may come from and be nominated by political parties – should hold to the principles of the merit system and not carry their party identities, but identities based on professionalism and quality expertise in the interest of their state and nation.

ASN in political years

Our country today has numerous and active political parties. Approximately 10-14 political parties have been fighting for government seats. If the merit system is not implemented honestly and consistently, the civil service institution will face many problems. In the case that a single political party wins the election to head the government, the ASN will become subordinate to the governing party: where and how the ASN operates will depend heavily on the aspirations and interests of the ruling party.

Political parties commonly intervene in local administrations. If a party-backed regent or mayor wins an election, the local civil service will fall under the control of the regional head, especially since the regional head is appointed an advisor of civil service profession. If the head of the ruling party takes an aggressive approach to practicing power, the BKN circular then becomes a warning that the ASN may potentially become the political tool of the ruling political party.

Therefore, in order to face the political years that come every five years, it is necessary to think about and design revisions to the ASN Law, which still raises the question over the nature of neutrality. The articles in the ASN Law that stipulate that state officials (president, ministers and regional heads) be appointed advisors to the civil service profession should be reviewed if such officials remain “political officials” that maintain their party identities. Similarly, a neutral and professional selection team should not propose three candidates as ASN advisors, but nominate only one candidate in accordance with the merit system to restrict the advisor’s selection.

KOMPAS/HARIADI SAPTONO

Miftah Thoha

Moreover, the relationship between the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry and the State Civil Service Commission (KASN) and their authority to regulate, manage and implement all ASN policies need clarification. The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry, if it is still headed by a minister from a political party, should not manage the civil service. The ministry should be renamed the State Administration Ministry, like in Italy, and deal with only those issues related to developing a system of good governance and good administrative management. Meanwhile, with regard to the issues of the ASN’s activities, the KASN should be placed directly under the president and have direct authority over the civil service. The BKN and the State Administrative Institution should be the implementing agencies of the policies that the KASN makes.

Miftah Thoha, Professor, Gadjah Mada University; Former Member, ASN Law Formulation Team