Nadiem Denies Jurist Tan as "The Real Minister", Says Prosecutor Mixes Up Facts
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, has denied the notion that Jurist Tan held significant influence to the extent of being nicknamed “The Real Minister” within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).
Nadiem made this statement during the trial of the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (11/5/2026).
It began with the public prosecutor (JPU) in the trial raising Nadiem’s leadership style, which was deemed unusual during his tenure as minister.
The prosecutor also spotlighted the presence of a group referred to as a shadow organisation or shadow organisation within the ministry.
The prosecutor assessed that structural officials in the ministry actually found it difficult to meet directly with the minister.
In fact, according to the prosecutor, several directors and director-generals were said to be afraid of the figure of Jurist Tan.
“Even, it became a fact in the trial that you once said, what Jurist Tan’s words are, those are your words, something like that,” said the prosecutor.
Not only that, the prosecutor also questioned the entry of several people from outside the ministry who were referred to as the shadow organisation during Nadiem’s leadership era.
In response to this, Nadiem denied the accusations and asked that different issues not be mixed up.
Nadiem explained that he brought in several special ministerial staff (SKM) because they were considered to have competence and integrity in their respective fields.
“As a minister, I entered with several special staff who are specific in their respective fields because of their competence, because of their integrity. These people like Mas Nino, Pak Iwan, Jurist Tan, Dey, and also Fiona, and others are SKM,” he said.
He also emphasised that some echelon officials in the ministry still came from within Kemendikbudristek.
“Outside of that, all my director-generals come from within the ministry. So, they were chosen by me and approved by the President based on their track record within the ministry,” said Nadiem.
According to Nadiem, the technology team that helped with the education digitalisation programme was not part of the ministry’s structure, but rather under a subsidiary of PT Telkom.
At the end of his explanation, Nadiem emphasised that the use of such technology personnel was part of the government’s mandate for education digitalisation given to him.
“Why are people with technology knowledge being utilised to assist within the ministry in the digitalisation programme? Because this is the mandate I received from the President,” said Nadiem.