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Jokowi intervention last hope for suspended KPK employees after legal means exhausted
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan (third from left) and other KPK employees who failed a controversial civic knowledge test speak to the media after a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on June 8. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
T
he fate of scores of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees who were suspended after failing a controversial civics test lies with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, now that all other legal means to restore their employment have been exhausted.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of upholding a civic knowledge test that resulted in the suspension of 57 KPK employees means the marginalized investigators can only avoid final dismissal if Jokowi personally intervenes.
The court held that the test, organized by the KPK between March and April, was an acceptable tool to assess whether the commission’s employees were eligible to have their employment status changed to that of civil servants. But it also noted that the responsibility to follow up on the assessment lay with the government.
"On one hand, the ruling upholds such a test, but on the other hand, it’s nice that the Supreme Court came to a decision rather early, so the President can take a stance on the KPK civics test soon," said Hotman Tambunan, one of the suspended KPK employees.
The ruling came two weeks after the Constitutional Court upheld the test and its application.
Read also: Indonesia's war on graft is in tatters. now what?
Hotman suggested that another civics test be offered to the 57 KPK employees or that they be appointed civil servants after additional training, just like 18 other employees who failed the test but were offered retraining by the KPK.
