Iqbal Requests Regional Governments Be Given Authority to Recruit Professional PPPK

West Nusa Tenggara Governor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal has requested that regional governments be given the leeway to recruit Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) according to desired competencies. The request was made during a working meeting with Commission II of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday, attended by Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian. Iqbal stated that the composition of the state civil apparatus (ASN) within the NTB Provincial Government is dominated not by technical needs, but by the legacy of appointing honorary workers. “More than 60 percent of our ASN today are former honorary staff who were later appointed. This condition creates a significant gap in the need for truly competent professionals to manage the government going forward,” said Iqbal. Iqbal agreed with the policy of halting new ASN recruitment for budget efficiency. However, he noted that the NTB Provincial Government still needs room to fill strategic positions with professional workers. Therefore, the former Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey urged the central government, through the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, to provide relaxation in PPPK recruitment. “We ask for permission to recruit PPPK according to its original purpose, which is competency-based, tailored to what is truly needed. This is a crucial step. If not allowed soon, we will face the grim prospect of a bureaucracy incapable of answering the challenges of the times,” Iqbal asserted. Beyond the chaotic human resources situation, Iqbal was also frank about the instability of regional financial management due to central budget policies. Iqbal recounted his experience when he first took office. At that time, he slashed personnel expenditure by simplifying the organisational structure of regional apparatuses. The initial results were positive, with the personnel expenditure portion successfully reduced to 25 percent. However, that efficiency suddenly collapsed due to central policies. The cut in Regional Transfers amounting to Rp 1.2 trillion and the delay in Profit-Sharing Funds totalling Rp 600 billion caused the percentage of personnel expenditure to surge back to 33 percent by year-end. “We hope that going forward, projections for Regional Transfers and Profit-Sharing Funds are provided earlier. With clear data, the provincial government can be more agile in anticipating personnel spending and maintaining regional financial stability,” Iqbal hoped.