Regent annuls selection of civil servants

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.