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Non-active KPK workers pin hope on Jokowi to settle their status
The team had sent a letter to the President on Aug. 23 that suggested their status be converted to civil servants, citing the mandate outlined in the 2019 KPK Law as well as the Ombudsman and Komnas HAM’s findings.
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In the spotlight: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan (third from left) and other KPK employees who failed a civic knowledge test speak to the media after a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights on June 8, 2021. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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team of 57 non-active Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees who failed the controversial civic knowledge test have pinned their hopes on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s intervention after the Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review petition that challenged the legal basis of the test.
On Aug. 31, the court rejected a petition filed by director of KPK Watch Indonesia Yusuf Sahide, who argued that the test did not have a strong legal basis as it was not mandated in the 2019 KPK Law or its derivative regulation, Government Regulation (PP) No. 41/2020.
The civic knowledge test was officially a part of the transition for the independent KPK employees into the state bureaucracy as mandated in the 2019 KPK Law, which was controversially passed following speedy deliberation at the House of Representatives. The law sets a two-year deadline for the KPK to implement the status change, which is slated to end this year.
Initially, 75 employees failed the test, 24 of whom were offered the option to be retained but were required to take civic education training. Six people declined to join the training session, joining the remaining 51 people who were reportedly set to be dismissed.
Read also: KPK fires 51 employees despite Jokowi's call for restraint
Yusuf also argued that using the test as a basis to dismiss the employees who failed to pass it was in contravention of the third paragraph of Article 28D of the Constitution, which guarantees the right of equal opportunities for Indonesian citizens to hold positions in public office.
In their ruling, the justices argued that such provision in the Constitution did not strip the rights of the government to set certain requirements as part of the selection process for public office.
