State Secretary Discusses Two Deputy Ministers Replacing Silmy Karim and Noel

The State Secretary, Prasetyo Hadi, revealed that the government does not yet plan to fill or replace the positions of two deputy ministers currently embroiled in legal issues. Nevertheless, he ensured that the relevant ministries continue to operate normally.

“For the time being, there are no plans to fill the positions left by the two deputy ministers who are undergoing legal processes,” he stated when answering journalists’ questions at the DPR/MPR RI Building, Jakarta, on Saturday (6/6/2026).

Prasetyo explained that the government is not in a hurry to find replacements because the positions are deputy ministerial roles. He assessed that the ministries’ duties can still be accommodated by the respective ministers.

“Since these are deputy minister positions, the activities or duties of the ministries being carried out by the ministers can still proceed normally,” he explained.

Despite this, Pras mentioned that the government will continue to monitor the situation. He noted that the appointment of new deputy ministers will be considered through an evaluation process.

“We will see; if we calculate the need and determine that we must strengthen the position by appointing a deputy minister, we will look into that after our evaluation. I believe there are no issues at present,” he said.

When asked again whether there would be any appointments in the near future, Pras confirmed that it is not a priority at this time.

“There are none, there are none,” he replied briefly.

For context, there are currently vacancies in the deputy minister seats after previous officials became involved with law enforcement agencies. The first is the former Deputy Minister of Immigration and Correctional Services (Imipas), Silmy Karim, who became a suspect in an alleged extortion case related to foreign national (WNA) stay permits. The second is the former Deputy Minister of Manpower, Immanuel Ebenezer Gerungan, known as Noel, who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in a bribery and gratification case involving the processing of Occupational Health and Safety (K3) certificates at the Ministry of Manpower.