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IPDN promotes ex-convict in death cover-up to professor
The Institute of Public Administration (IPDN) inaugurated three new professors on Saturday, including a senior lecturer who was convicted of covering up a ritual act of violence that resulted in the death of an IPDN student last year
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he Institute of Public Administration (IPDN) inaugurated three new professors on Saturday, including a senior lecturer who was convicted of covering up a ritual act of violence that resulted in the death of an IPDN student last year.
But the institute's rector, Ngadisah, brushed aside the controversy, saying the conviction would not deprive Lexie M. Giroth of his chance to secure the academic title.
"He was proven guilty by the court, has served his sentence and has shown good behavior, and we have to accept the fact that his academic achievements have been acknowledged by the President and the minister of education," Ngadisah said.
It is the President's prerogative to appoint candidates at the IPDN to professorship based on nominations by the minister of education.
Lexie was sentenced to 18 months in prison in September last year after ordering that formaledhye be injected into the body of IPDN student Cliff Muntu after his death to conceal fatal wounds he had suffered.
The Supreme Court reduced Lexie's jail term to seven months after an appeal in November last year, prompting his immediate release from prison.
Also inaugurated as professors were Nurul Aini Mashari and Djohermansyah Djohan. The three new professors delivered their academic speeches following their inauguration.
Among the attendants of the inauguration ceremony was State Minister of Administrative Reforms Taufik Effendi. Home Minister Mardiyanto, whose office oversees the IPDN, was represented in his absence by his expert staff I Nyoman Sumaryadi, who was the IPDN rector when the fatal incident took place.
The IPDN now has 17 professors and 149 lecturers.
The inauguration had been delayed for a few years due to the integration of the School of Public Administration and the IPDN into the Institute of Governance Studies (IIP).
Nurul was named professor in 2004, Djohermansyah in 2005 and Lexie in 2006.
Djohermansyah, deputy for political affairs at the Vice President's office, proposed in his speech a new law on regional elections that would limit the elections to only select the governor, regent or mayor.
He said the current election system was prone to conflicts between the elected leader and his or her deputy.
"An elected leader should name a deputy from the bureaucracy. A big administrative region can have more than one deputy, while a small one may not need a deputy leader," he said.
Indonesia has seen 440 direct regional elections since the amended law on regional administration was passed in 2005.
Lexie, a professor of policy studies, delivered a speech about the evolution of governance in the country, with Tondano and Baubau mayoralties in Sulawesi his case studies.
Ngadisah said that in order to improve its education system, the IIP would open four new branches in 2009. The proposed Banjarmasin school in South Kalimantan would focus on development studies, the Makassar school in South Sulawesi on government efficiency studies, the Manado school in North Sulawesi on demography studies and the Bukittinggi school in West Sumatra on finance studies.
"We aim to improve professionalism, quality and research at the institute," she said. (pmf)
