Regent annuls selection of civil servants

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

Bowing to pressure from the local legislative council and protesters, Alor Regent Ans Takalapeta from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province has annulled his administration's decision to accept 145 new civil servants.

The 145 participants were declared to have passed a test for civil servant candidates through decree No. UP.811/911/2002, which was announced on Dec. 3.

But the decision sparked a protest by thousands of those deemed to have failed the test. They demanded that the regent revoke it, alleging corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) as factors in accepting the 145 participants.

Alor legislative council speaker Jhon Blegur said on Friday that Takalapeta finally annulled the result of the test during a special meeting with senior council leaders on Thursday.

The local administration also decided to hold a new test for the selection of civil servant candidates, Blegur told The Jakarta Post.

"As there was an indication of KKN in the selection process of participants involving certain officials, the regent annulled the outcome of the test and will organize a new selection," he said.

It was not clear whether the officials accused of KKN would be prosecuted for it.

Takalapeta said he had made the decision to annul acceptance of the 145 new civil servants in coordination with the State Personnel Administration Board (BAKN).

"As the central BAKN approved the annulment, the test committee here will hold a new selection process," he told the Post.

Takalapeta and Blegur said they shared responsibility for the annulment of the 145 accepted civil servants as they had lodged a strong protest against the local administration and the council.

In a joint statement, the protesters slammed the regent and council leaders for taking what they called a "unilateral decision", without carrying out an investigation beforehand.

"We reject the regent's decree on the annulment because the decision has no legal power," the statement said without further elaboration.