Poso, Central Sulawesi —
Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian, Tuesday (19/9) inaugurated the Acting (Pj) Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Lalu Gita Ariadi, to replace the acting governor and deputy governor of NTB for the 2018 – 2023 term of office which ends on 19 September 2023, namely Zulkieflimansyah and Sitti Rohmi Djalilah.
“Please carry out your duties as well as possible, the most important thing is to fill the gaps so that the wheels of government run. Don’t let the wheels of government in NTB stagnate because there are no officials. “That is the most important goal,” hoped Tito Karnavian during the inauguration activity.
Then Gita Ariadi, who previously served as Regional Secretary of West Nusa Tenggara Province, became the 10th acting governor to be appointed in September 2023.
Previously, on September 5 2023, the Minister of Home Affairs inaugurated nine acting governors for the provinces of North Sumatra, Central Java, West Java, West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua.
It is scheduled that on October 1 2023 there will be an inauguration for the acting governors of the provinces of South Sumatra and East Kalimantan.
Recruitment of Acting Regional Heads
In total there are 17 governors, 115 regents and 38 mayors whose terms of office end in 2023. According to the Minister of Home Affairs, filling the vacancies in regional head positions is carried out based on the provisions of Law Number 10 of 2016 by appointing officials until the governor and deputy governor are elected. regents and deputy regents as well as mayors and deputy mayors through simultaneous national elections in 2024.
“We carried out quite a long search, specifically the requirements were high-ranking middle level officials, meaning structural echelon one, for governors it meant regional secretary (regional secretary-ed) at the provincial level,” explained Tito Karnavian, last Tuesday (5/9).
The Minister of Home Affairs explained that to fill the vacancy in the position of regent/mayor, an acting regent/mayor would be appointed from a pratama or second echelon leadership position. The nomination of acting governors is carried out by the Minister of Home Affairs and the Provincial Regional People’s Representative Council with a total of 6 candidates, while the nomination of acting regents and mayors is carried out by the Minister of Home Affairs, the Governor and the Regency or City DPRD with a total of nine candidates.
“Discussed in the pre-TPA session (final assessment team) involving a number of K/L (institutional ministries) especially those related to legal issues, PPATK, KPK, Prosecutor’s Office, Police, don’t let those appointed have legal problems,” said Tito.
The appointed officials are expected to focus on their main task of running the government in the regions, apart from that, as state civil servants (ASN) they are also expected to maintain neutrality in the political year leading up to the 2024 election.
“Gentlemen are actually filling the void, so the most important thing is running the government and then as ASN I ask you to remain in this political year taking a neutral position, not in practical political positions but in state politics to develop your respective regions,” said Tito Karnavian.
Aroma of Conflict of Interest
In their press release, Friday (7/9) the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) highlighted the steps in selecting acting regional heads which were deemed not undemocratic and adhering to administration.
Even though it is not carried out through a general election mechanism (election) because it is temporary, efforts to elect regional heads must be carried out democratically in accordance with constitutional orders. This is intended to adapt regional needs to the official’s expertise.
Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Dimas Bagus Arya. (Courtesy: Screenshots)
“There is also no public space to then carry out forms of supervision and propose participation in determining ultimately helping the Ministry of Home Affairs determine the appointment of acting regional heads,” said Kontras Coordinator, Dimas Bagus Arya in an online press conference.
Kontras also indicates that there is a conflict of interest in the appointment of acting regional heads for the provinces of Central Java, Bali, North Sumatra and Southeast Sulawesi who have backgrounds as retired TNI-POLRI officers who allegedly aim to accelerate central government policies in the regions.
“We are aware and monitoring that there are more and more repressive actions and security measures in the context of the National Strategic Project in Sulawesi. We have a strong suspicion that there are other forms of security measures in the context of extractive industry activities in the region. that,” said Dimas.
It is in accordance with the mechanism
According to the Kemendagri.go.id website, the four retired TNI-POLRI officers who were appointed in early September have retired and have moved on to become state civil servants in a number of ministries/institutions.
“There are four whose backgrounds are from the TNI and POLRI, but they have retired. SK (Decree Letter) is also available, all administrative details are complete. “So we refer to the applicable legal regulations,” said Tito.
The four retired TNI-POLRI officers are retired TNI Major General Hassanudin as acting governor of North Sumatra, retired Police Commissioner General Nana Sudjana as acting governor of Central Java, retired Police Inspector General Sang Made Mahendra as acting governor of Bali and retired Police Commissioner General Andap Budhi Revianto as acting governor of Sulawesi Southeast. (yl/em)
