2.357 Convicted Civil Servants to be Fired

The Home Ministry is set to dismiss 2,357 civil servants, who have been convicted of corruption, by the end of this year. The lengthy decision to dismiss the convicted civil servants is deemed as maladministration, which causes losses to the state.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Hadi, Erni, Diana and Sugiarto of the Malang Legislative Council (DPRD) descend the stairs in detention uniforms at the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) C4 detention unit in Jakarta. The four were among the 22 Malang legislators the KPK named as bribery suspects in 2015, in connection with a corruption case involving the Malang City Bylaw (Perda) on the revised regional budget (APBD). The 22 legislators are suspected of receiving gifts and other gratification from non-active Malang mayor Moch. Anton, who is also a suspect.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — As many as 2,357 civil servants, who were convicted of corruption, have not been dismissed. Aside from it being deemed maladministration, it also causes state losses because they still receive salaries.

With regards to this matter, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo asked regional heads, as civil servants supervisors, and regional secretaries, as the competent authorities in civil servant management, to immediately dismiss the 2,357 civil servants no later than the end of this year.

"The Home Ministry will remind them through a written warning. If there are regional heads who do not pay attention to it, the central government has the authority to take over and immediately dismiss the civil servants," Tjahjo said after a joint coordination meeting related to law enforcement in the civil service at the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Present at the meeting, among others, were KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo, head of the State Civil Service Agency (BKN) Bima Haria Wibisana and the secretary of the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry, Dwi Wahyu Atmaji.

KOMPAS/LASTI KURNIA

Tjahjo Kumolo

Tjahjo said one of the obstacles to the dismissal of civil servants, who had been convicted for corruption, was a Home Minister circular dated Oct. 29, 2012, regarding the reappointment of civil servants in structural positions.

A letter addressed to governors, regents and mayors throughout Indonesia stated that civil servants, who had served criminal sentences, were not allowed to occupy structural positions. However, there are those who argue that the convicted civil servants can still work as long as they do not occupy structural positions.

In fact, Article 87, Paragraph 4 of Law No. 5/2014 on civil servants states that civil servants who are jailed for corruption must be immediately dismissed.

The end of this year

Based on BKN data from between January 2015 and September 2018, some of the civil servants, who were convicted of corruption, are employed at central institutions and regional governments, while the promotion process for 1,424 problematic civil servants has been frozen by the BKN through its Civil Service Application System. However, the BKN cannot decide on the payment of the civil servants\' salaries. Termination of salaries can only be done if there is a letter of dismissal.

In 2016, Bima said, the BKN sent a letter to civil servant supervisors to comply with Article 87 Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 4 of Law No. 5/2014. However, until now, only 317 have been discharged.

Bima added that the dismissals will be completed by the end of the year. The deadline must be met to maintain the effectiveness of handling the abuse of authority and prevention of greater state losses. "We hope that colleagues from related agencies and local governments immediately coordinate the termination if it is difficult. We are waiting for a response," he said.

Bima also emphasized that he had coordinated with the KPK and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to track state losses and maladministrative positions due to the existence of convicted civil servants who have not been dismissed. "The BKN will be assisted by the audit findings of the BPK and the KPK against civil servant supervisors who do not immediately issue dismissal letters. That is to see whether there is a crime that has something to do with the positions or corruption," he said.

As a long-term effort to enable the dismissal of civil servants convicted of corruption, the BKN has coordinated with the Supreme Court to include an employee identity number (NIP) in each copy of the court decision involving civil servants. "With the NIP, we can easily trace the data and can process it quickly," Bima said.

The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry has warned civil servant supervisors and the heads of central institutions, who have not issued dismissal letters to civil servants convicted of corruption, of the consequences. "We remind them that everything has been regulated to immediately dismiss the civil servants," said the ministry’s Dwi Wahyu Atmaji.

Dwi added that it would immediately conduct coordination meetings with the BKN, Home Ministry, Law and Human Rights Ministry and law enforcement officials to issue technical rules that could directly dismiss civil servants convicted of corruption.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Agus Rahardjo

Bureaucratic reform

Agus Rahardjo added that the payment of salaries to convicted civil servants would have an impact on state losses. The KPK will explore BKN data regarding this matter. "After we obtain the data, we will investigate," he said.

Agus added that regional heads should not hesitate to dismiss civil servants convicted of corruption even though lawsuits have been filed at the State Administrative Court. This is because dismissal is clearly regulated in the Civil Service Law.

The KPK, Agus said, was ready to carry out training courses for civil servants to prevent them from getting involved in corruption.

Tjahjo said the dismissal of civil servants, who had been convicted of corruption, put the state at risk.

"So if we cannot be strict, the state can be harmed. This is a big problem and quite surprising because we are still paying people who have been found guilty," he added.

(BOW/IAN)