Jakarta – Four former Jakarta mayors claim that they did not receive proper notice of their dismissals by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan during his major reshuffle of the city's top officials on July 5.
Former West Jakarta mayor Anas Effendi said he did not know what he had done wrong to warrant his dismissal.
"If we did something wrong then prove it," Anas said on Monday as reported by kompas.com. "[Municipal posts] should not be cherry-picked, as a form of reward, or as a result of pressure from groups, or political pressure," he said.
He said that staff regeneration was not sufficient reason for his dismissal as Anies had put an official older than him in his old post.
Anas was replaced by former North Jakarta mayor Rustam Effendi, who stepped down from his post during the administration of Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.
Former South Jakarta mayor Tri Kurniadi said he was not warned in any way about his performance and received the news about his dismissal only a day before the inauguration of the new mayors and regent.
"I was not summoned [for a meeting]. I was only told by phone [on July 4] that the next day would see the position handover," Tri said.
Similar treatment was meted out to former East Jakarta mayor Bambang Musyawardana, who claimed that he only received the news about his dismissal through a Whatsapp chat.
He said he had submitted the necessary paperwork to apply for his retirement to the National Civil Servant Agency (BKN) and was set to retire on Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, former Central Jakarta mayor Mangara Pardede said he assumed that he had been put into retirement by Anies as he was not told what his new post would be after his dismissal.
"I presume that I am in retirement because the SK [gubernatorial decree] does not say where I am going to go next," the 58-year-old Mangara said. He said Anies had told him about his dismissal the night before the inauguration of the new officials.
"I was phoned on July 4, at around 9:25 p.m. [by Anies]. I was also told that the inauguration [of the new officials] was the next day at 2 p.m.," he said.
The State Civilian Bureaucracy Commission has launched an investigation into Anies' dismissal of several officials.
The commission is currently investigating alleged irregularities in the dismissals and has questioned several dismissed officials and members of the Jakarta Civil Service Agency. (ami)