Transparency and public participation are believed to be able to prevent political intervention in the appointment of acting regional heads. It is also advisable that the appointment process involves an independent team.
By
NIKOLAUS HARBOWO, PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO
·5 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Political intervention and transactions are likely to overshadow the process of the central government’s appointment of interim regional heads, who will take over the provisional office in the buildup to 2024 presidential, legislative as well as the nationwide simultaneous regional head elections. The appointment process must be made transparent and accommodative to public participation in order to deter possible infiltration of political interests.
Based on data from the Home Ministry, the tenure of 101 regional heads and deputies will end in mid-May 2022, while another 171 regional heads and deputies will end their term in 2023. Until after the completion of the 2024 nationwide simultaneous regional head elections, the regional administrations will be led by acting regional heads. Acting governors are appointed by the President, acting regents/mayors by the home minister.
Although these hundreds of outgoing regional heads and deputies have yet to step out of their offices, plots for political intervention and transactions are perceived to have been up the sleeves of a number of high-ranked state civil servants (ASN) and political parties. A kickback, either in the form of money or promise to help secure the votes for specific political parties, is reported to have been offered as the ante for having a hand in the appointment of an ASN as interim regional head (Kompas, 18/4/2022).
The House of Representatives (DPR) has urged the government to prepare an adequate system to ensure the appointment of acting regional heads is free from political interests. House speaker Puan Maharani said the government had around one month to see to the appointment mechanism that would be transparent and open to public participation.
"Prepare adequate facilities to accommodate input from the public and carry out a measurable screening that is free from political interests," Puan, a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said in a written statement on Monday (4/18/2022).
KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO (KUM)
Puan Maharani, Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Eko Prasojo, a professor of administrative science, the University of Indonesia, said the Home Ministry should be open with the public as to who among the ASN was eligible for the position and be transparent in the appointment process.
Deputy minister of the State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform for the 2011-2014 period, Eko suggested the formation of a selection team to test prospective candidates for office. The team can consist of five experts who are independent, credible and popular among the public. Given the large number of regional vacant posts for interim officials, the ministry can form at least two to three teams to speed up the screening.
Another crucial issue is that the ministry will have to monitor and evaluate the performance of officials. While the public is expected to participate in the monitoring by providing input, the evaluation aims to assess whether an interim head can continue in office or face dismissal.
“I guess those things are important so that this process is transparent and accountable,” Eko said, cautioning possible violation of procedural passage in the case of the ministry failing to address the issues.
A poll by the Kompas Research & Development division on March 7-12 shows that as many as 56.5 percent of respondents believed that the appointment of acting regional heads by the government, in this case under the authority of the Home Ministry, had not been carried out in a transparent manner.
KASN
Chairman of KASN Agus Pramusinto (center) led the declaration of the ASN Neutrality National Movement which was carried out virtually, Wednesday (7/10/2020).
Discretionary power
Syarif Hidayat, a regional autonomy researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), agreed with Eko, saying that a fit and proper test by an independent selection team would be necessary to prevent political intervention and transactions.
In addition to featuring experts, he suggested the screening team should comprise representatives from supervisory institutions, such as the State Civil Apparatus Commission (KASN) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
The current situation, thus far unregulated, needs to be addressed.
Despite not being regulated by law, the formation of the screening team is justifiable as part of the discretion on the part of the central government’s officials. The discretion is deserved, because the current situation is beyond legislation in term of the appointment of acting regional heads. The law only regulates the procedures in normal conditions, whereas the current situation is unusual in that the appointment of acting regional heads is taking place against the backdrop of potentially escalating political hypes due to general elections. This situation makes the appointment more vulnerable to interference by certain political interests.
"The current situation, thus far unregulated, needs to be addressed," Syarif said.
Bureaucracy at risk
KASN chairman Agus Pramusinto said he had repeatedly reminded the State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Minister to pay more careful attention to the appointment of interim regional heads and warned the bureaucracy about being dragged into the clashing interests of the political powers. He said the elections might put the bureaucracy at risk of becoming the vehicle for political parties.
“We have stressed many times the need to handle it prudently. We focus more on the excesses. The bureaucracy can self-destruct if the officials fall prey to the interests of certain political parties," Agus said.
Akmal Malik, the Home Ministry’s director for regional autonomy, said that there had been no further discussion regarding the involvement of experts or other institutions in the selection of officials. He said the ministry still used the current regulations as the reference, such as the Regional Government Law, the Regional Election Law and the ASN Law.
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