Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology\nNadiem Makarim was questioned by public prosecutors (JPU) regarding the\nfigure of the \u2018shadow minister\u2019. Nadiem claimed he did not know about\nthe shadow minister.<\/p>\n
The question was posed by the JPU during the trial examination of the\ndefendant held at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (11\/5).\nThe JPU informed Nadiem that the shadow minister had even made a\nDirector General fearful.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever heard who this shadow minister is?\u201d asked the\nprosecutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t,\u201d replied Nadiem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you. Jurist Tan is known as the shadow minister. There was\neven fear in the ministry, in a follow-up during your time leading as a\nminister,\u201d explained the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
For information, Jurist Tan is also a suspect in this case. However,\nhe has not been tried because he is still at large. The name Jurist Tan\nhas also appeared several times in the trial.<\/p>\n
Director General Fears the Shadow Minister Figure<\/p>\n
The prosecutor revealed how influential the shadow minister figure\nwas, to the extent that a Director General found it difficult to meet\nthe minister. The prosecutor also mentioned that the Director General at\nthe Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology at that\ntime was afraid of the figure Jurist Tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Director General was not even bold enough with the shadow minister\nnamed Jurist Tan. It even became a fact in the trial that you once said,\n\u2018Are Jurist Tan\u2019s words your words?\u2019 Something like that,\u201d said the\nprosecutor.<\/p>\n
Nadiem then explained that he brought several people to serve as\nspecial ministerial staff (SKM) when he was the Minister of Education,\nCulture, Research, and Technology. One of the special ministerial staff\nwas Jurist Tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAllow me to clarify. All these things are being mixed up into one.\nAs a minister, I entered with several specific special staff in their\nrespective fields because of their competence, because of their\nintegrity. People like Mas Nino, Pak Iwan, Jurist Tan, and also Fiona,\nand others, they are SKM (Special Ministerial Staff). Some of the SKM\nlater became Director Generals like Pak Iwan who is a witness here.\nOutside of that, all my Director Generals came from within the\nministry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Reason for Bringing External Team<\/p>\n
On the same occasion, Nadiem revealed the reason for bringing people\nfrom outside as special staff and technology team. Nadiem said the\nspecial staff and technology team were brought in to develop educational\ndigitalisation applications.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also brought in outsiders, there\u2019s a term \u2018shadow\u2019, \u2018shadow\u2019\nwhat? Do you remember? \u2018Shadow\u2019 organisation or what? There was a shadow\norganisation. You brought in hundreds from outside, right. Those people.\nCan you explain to this panel of judges?\u201d asked the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a minister, I entered with several specific special staff in\ntheir respective fields because of their competence, because of their\nintegrity,\u201d replied Nadiem.<\/p>\n
Nadiem mentioned several parties he brought from outside who were\nmade special ministerial staff. Nadiem said there were also staff who\nlater became Director Generals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they were chosen by me and approved by the President, based on\ntheir track record in the ministry. So that\u2019s what is meant by the best\npeople in the ministry being appointed and given the opportunity to\nlead,\u201d explained Nadiem.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor then interrupted upon hearing Nadiem mention\n\u2018President\u2019. Nadiem\u2019s legal counsel immediately objected to the\nprosecutor\u2019s interruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cPermission, Your Honour, sorry,\u201d the prosecutor interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Honour, I remind you,\u201d replied the legal counsel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do not casually bring up the President\u2019s name in the trial. I\nsee no correlation between the answer,\u201d clarified the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The judge asked everyone to listen to Nadiem\u2019s explanation. The\nprosecutor asked Nadiem not to casually mention the President\u2019s\nname.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just reminding you, don\u2019t casually bring up the President\u2019s\nname,\u201d explained the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is being asked should be allowed; let the defendant have the\nopportunity to answer,\u201d said the judge.<\/p>\n
Nadiem continued his answer. Nadiem said the technology people he\nbrought were outside the structure of the Ministry of Education,\nCulture, Research, and Technology. He said the technology team worked\nthrough a contract with one of the state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prosecutor\u2019s question is why I brought in people from the\ntechnology field to help the ministry. This is my answer. So my answer\nis very relevant to the prosecutor\u2019s question. Allow me to complete my\nanswer to the prosecutor. The mandate from the first plenary cabinet\nmeeting, a specific directive from the President to the Ministry of\nEducation and Culture, is to implement technology\u2019s role in education,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Asked to Build Educational Digitalisation<\/p>\n
Nadiem said he was asked at that time to build an application that\ncould be used in educational digitalisation. Meanwhile, at that time,\nsaid Nadiem, people in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and\nTechnology did not have experience in building large-scale\napplications.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many capabilities and competencies in my ministry with\nmany good people. But one thing that was completely lacking in\ncompetence was building world-standard applications on a large scale,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
This became one of the reasons Nadiem brought in people from outside\nthe Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology to help\nwith his duties. He said the technology team was tasked with building\napplications used in Indonesia\u2019s education system.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s my answer to the prosecutor\u2019s question, what is the\nrationale, what is the reason for bringing in talented, idealistic young\npeople to create software applications where that competence was not\npresent in the ministry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nadiem\u2019s Charges<\/p>\n
In this case, Nadiem is charged with corruption related to the\nprocurement of Chromebook laptops when he was the Minister of Education,\nCulture, Research, and Technology. The project is said to have caused\nstate losses of Rp 2.1 trillion.<\/p>\n
Besides Nadiem, there are three other defendants in this case. They\nare Sri Wahyuningsih, former Director of Primary Schools in the\nDirectorate General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and\nSecondary Education from 2020-2021, Mulyatsyah, former Director of\nJunior High Schools in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and\nTechnology in 2020; and Ibrahim Arief (Ibam), a consultant for the\nMinistry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology during Nadiem\u2019s\nera.<\/p>\n
Sri and Mulyatsyah have been sentenced.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nadiems-admission-of-ignorance-regarding-the-shadow-minister-1778555668", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }