Laksamana faces legal defeat at PTUN

Laksamana faces legal defeat at PTUN

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A former member of PT Telkom's board of commissioners who lost
his job for alleged incompetence during a government-ordered
reshuffle, must be reinstated, the Jakarta State Administrative
Court has ruled.

The ruling could pave the way for the return of other former
top executives dismissed in similar circumstances, including
former company president M. Nazief.

The court on Thursday found in favor of Rahardjo Tjakraningrat
in his legal battle against State Minister of State Enterprises
Laksamana Sukardi.

Rahardjo challenged Laksamana's decision to dismiss him during
a major reshuffle at the state-owned telecommunications firm in
June last year.

Laksamana can appeal the decision.

Rahardjo's lawyer Chudriy Sitompul was quoted by detik.com as
saying that if his client defeated the appeal, Laksamana would
have to annul the restructuring policy and reinstate Rahardjo and
other former top Telkom officials.

The reshuffle was a response to a perception that the previous
Telkom management were incompetent.

The government at the time among others appointed Kristiono as
the new president of the company, replacing Nazief.

The court, in its ruling, said Laksamana's reshuffle was not
made in accordance with existing regulations.

Chudriy said Laksamana's argument that his client had failed
to carry out his duties could not be accepted because the latter
had not received any warning prior to the reshuffle.

Initially, Nazief joined Rahardjo in mounting a legal
challenge against the policy, but later withdrew without
providing an explanation.