Nadiem Likens His Kemendikbudristek Team to Protesting Students: Demanding Reform, They Get Arrested

Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek) for the 2019–2024 period, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, has likened his team at the ministry to student demonstrators. He made the comparison because students who have recently taken to the streets to demand improvements are instead being blocked, intercepted, and arrested. “The facts of the trial show a story that is the reverse of the indictment, namely the story of a group of young people who are idealistic, have integrity, and are brave enough to bring real change to their nation,” Nadiem said while reading his duplik (response to the prosecutor’s reply) at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

Nadiem stated that he and his team, including Ibrahim Arief alias Ibam, Jurist Tan, Fiona Handayani, Muhamad Heikal, Pramoda Dei Sudarmo, Iwan Syahril, Anindito Aditomo, Najeela Shihab, Stefani Nadia Purnama, Augus Dwi Anggara, Rangga Husnaprawira, and Deswitha Arvinci, along with hundreds of other young professionals serving the country, are part of the vanguard of national change. He said these young people were willing to leave their comfort zones to enter the world of government. Furthermore, they had refused to settle abroad, choosing instead to return to their homeland and forgo lucrative private-sector careers. “We prioritise impact over reward. We are loyal to the country, not to individuals, and we demand new hope for this nation,” he declared.

Nadiem also remarked that not every court decision has an impact on the direction of the nation. However, in the Chromebook corruption case, he believes God has placed that opportunity in the hands of the panel of judges. He said young people across Indonesia and the diaspora are waiting for the judges’ answer to a question echoing in their hearts: “Is this country still safe for us to serve?” Nadiem is a defendant in the alleged corruption case involving the education digitalisation programme, specifically the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) within the Ministry of Education and Culture for the 2019–2022 period. He was previously sentenced to 18 years in prison, a fine of Rp1 billion subsidiary to 190 days of confinement, and a restitution payment of Rp5.67 trillion subsidiary to 9 years of imprisonment.