The joint team of the KPK and Bareskrim arrested Nganjuk Regent Novi Rahman Hidayat for allegedly accepting bribes from many people in exchange for giving them positions at different offices.
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PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO/AMBROSIUS HARTO
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Lili Pintauli Siregar (left) and the Head of the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Agus Andrianto give press statements regarding the arrest operation of Nganjuk Regent Novi Rahman Hidhayat, at the KPK Building, Jakarta, Monday (10 / 5/2021).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- The cases emerged after a joint team from the Corruption Eradication Commission and the National Police Criminal Investigation Department arrested the Regent of Nganjuk, East Java, Novi Rahman Hidayat, on Sunday (9/5/2021). The recurrence of the bribery related to recruitment shows that the supervisory system is still weak in the government recruitment process.
Novi and a number of district heads in Nganjuk were arrested on Sunday at around 7 p.m. Information from the KPK stated the KPK team was led by Harun Al Rasyid. Harun was reportedly among 75 KPK employees who did not pass the nationalism-related exam as a condition for changing the status of KPK employees to state civil servants as mandated by the new KPK Law.
"The district heads gave a certain amount of money to the Nganjuk regent through the district head\'s aides in relation to the transfer and promotion of their positions and filling some positions in the ranks of the Nganjuk Regency Administration," said the director of Corruption Crimes (Tipikor) at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department, Brig. Gen. Djoko Purwanto during a press conference at the KPK Building, Jakarta, on Monday (10/5).
Novi was later named a suspect. Likewise his aide, M Izza Muhtadin.
Apart from the two, five district heads and former district heads have been named suspects. The joint team also seized Rp 647,900,000 from Novi\'s safe.
According to the head of Bareskrim Polri, Comr. Gen. Agus Andrianto, to be able to serve at the village apparatus level, employees must deposit Rp 10 million to Rp 15 million. As for the position above the village apparatus, Rp 150 million is paid. "It\'s still early. We will deepen this," he said.
DOKUMENTASI PEMKAB NGANJUK
Regent Nganjuk, Novi Rahman Hidayat
It was later decided that the investigation into this case will be handled by Bareskrim investigators under the supervision of the KPK. According to Agus, this was decided because the witnesses and supporting documents related to cases obtained by Bareskrim were of better quality than those of the KPK.
Deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Lili Pintauli Siregar, said the investigation of the case by the KPK and Bareskrim had been carried out since April 2021. He emphasized that the KPK would supervise the handling of the case by the police.
Recurring case
Case of buying and selling positions are not new. The previous Nganjuk regent, Taufiqurrahman, was also arrested by the KPK for similar case in 2017. The KPK has also investigated similar cases in Klaten and Kudus, Central Java, and Cirebon, West Java.
Chairman of the State Civil Apparatus Commission (KASN), Agus Pramusinto, said his office regularly oversaw the recruitment of government employees. However, there are still frequent cases of transactional hires. Therefore, he encourages the role of the community in the monitoring of such cases. In addition, regional heads need to be aware that a recruitment process that is not based on a merit system will actually put regional heads in danger.
Professor of State Administration Sciences, Institute of State Administration, Djohermansyah Djohan, said such cases were recurring because the selection committee for filling positions is easy to manipulate. The regional head looks for people who are affiliated with him to become members of the selection committee. They then manipulate the results of the selection by giving the highest score to the person chosen by the regional head.
"Therefore, the authority to recruit regional officers [PPK] should not be in the hands of the regional head [regent]. The PPK should be in the hands of the highest official in the bureaucracy, namely the regional secretary,” he said.
