Home Affairs Minister assesses many regional heads caught in sting operations due to recruitment issues

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Home Affairs Minister (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian believes that the large number of regional heads caught in hand-catching operations (OTT) related to corruption offences is partly due to issues with the recruitment system that has been in place. He explained that regional heads are currently selected through direct regional head elections (pilkada) by the people. This means, he said, there are systematic problems related to direct pilkada. “There might be a connection with the direct pilkada recruitment mechanism, which apparently does not guarantee the production of good leaders? There are good leaders, but there are also those like this (caught in OTT),” Tito said after attending a meeting with the DPR at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Monday. He did not deny that the direct pilkada mechanism has positive impacts, but it also has negative ones. Given the fact that political costs are high, it does not guarantee that the elected regional heads are good people. According to him, the phenomenon of many regional heads getting entangled in corruption cases involves problems of welfare, morals, and integrity. Although the latest case is that of Tulungagung Regent Gatut Sunu Wibowo, who was caught in a corruption extortion case against officials, he said the problem is not just case by case. Because, he said, the phenomenon of regional head corruption occurs several times in a short period. “There is a fundamental problem. Perhaps one of them is the recruitment mechanism that has been used; they are all results of direct elections,” he said.