Ratu Atut Officially Fired as Banten Governor

Jakarta Globe, Jul 29, 2015

Graft convict Ratu Atut Chosiyah has officially been relieved from her post
as governor of Banten. (Antara Photo/Vitalis Yogi Trisna)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has issued a memo discharging graft convict Ratu Atut Chosiyah from her position as governor of Banten province, a minister said on Wednesday.

“I have received an official letter from the Supreme Court and then reported it to the president through the State Secretary – the presidential decision [Keppres] has already been issued,” said Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, as quoted by news portal Detik.com.

He added that the Banten Legistlative Council (DPRD) has also received the letter, which instructed the province’s acting governor Rano Karno to replace Atut.

Last September, the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Atut to four years imprisonment for bribing disgraced former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar to sway the results of an election dispute in Lebak, Banten. This scandal also implicated her brother Tubagus Chaeri Wardana Chasan and lawyer Susi Tur Andayani – both of whom have been convicted and sentenced to five years in jail.

The bribe was meant to overturn the results of the Lebak district election and make Amir Hamzah, Atut’s chosen candidate, the winner.

Joko Calls on British Businesses to Diversify in Indonesia as He Meets With PM Cameron

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Novy Lumanauw, Jul 27, 2015

British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo
 meet at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Monday. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo asked Britain to diversify its businesses in Indonesia and lower import duties for Indonesian products entering the United Kingdom during his bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Jakarta on Monday.

Joko told Cameron he welcomed Britain’s increased investments in Indonesia, which rose 34 percent last year, but added he wished Indonesia’s fifth largest foreign investor to diversify its range of businesses in the archipelago.

“I want to encourage Britain to diversify its investment in infrastructure development, including [for the construction] of sea ports, toll roads, railways, power plants and the maritime industry. Britain has vast experiences,” said Joko, who has repeatedly invited foreign nations to invest more in Indonesia to support his ambitious infrastructure development projects — including in the maritime sector.

“I also hope that Britain will impose lower import duties for Indonesian products, such as timber, clothing, coffee and fishery products,” he added.

Joko said Indonesia was committed to continually improving its economic partnership with Britain.

The Indonesian president also expressed his wish that Britain would reciprocate Indonesia’s visa-free policy applicable to British visitors.

“We hope that there will be a visa-free facility for Indonesian citizens [going to] Britain. This issue has been discussed during limited meetings,” Joko said.

Cameron in an e-mail interview with the Jakarta Globe on Sunday said his government would offer £1 billion ($1.55 billion) of credit financing for infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

A press statement from the British Embassy in Jakarta said the fund would be made available through Britain’s export guarantee scheme.

“This financing could pave the way for growth of £200 million worth of exports to UK,” the statement says.

It adds that projects “up for grabs” include a sewage treatment system in Jakarta worth £400 million and geothermal power projects worth £66 million.

Moazzam Malik, the British Ambassador for Indonesia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Timor Leste, on Sunday said that Britain was keen to offer Indonesia its vast expertise in a number of areas — specifically in maritime infrastructure development and maritime defense, satellite technology and public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure projects.

Cameron himself told the Globe in the e-mail interview: “The UK shares a common history as a maritime nation and while we may only have hundreds of islands compared to 17,000 here, we do understand the challenges that this presents and we want to share our experience and expertise to help develop this vital sector.”

“We have a wealth of experience in using advanced technology to monitor and manage our national waters and we are also a world leader in developing marine energy.”

The British prime minister is accompanied by a delegation of leaders of 30 prominent British brands in his two-day visit to Jakarta.

Among them are Airbus Group UK president Paul Kahn, Lloyd’s of London chairman John Nelson, Rolls-Royce international director Ann Cormack, Surrey Satellite Technology group executive chairman Martin Sweeting and UK Higher Educational Unit director Vivienne Stern.

Cameron is slated to attend a business forum with the Indonesian business community in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Jakarta is the prime minister’s first stop in his four-day tour of Southeast Asia which will include Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Cameron had visited Indonesia once before, in 2012 where he met with then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Southeast Asian tour is Cameron’s first foreign visit outside Europe after his re-election in May.

The British Embassy says the tour is part of the British government’s efforts to increase the country’s exports to £1 trillion a year and to get 100,000 more British companies exporting by 2020.

“The prime minister is taking the first trade mission of the new parliament to a region [Southeast Asia] forecast to grow at 5 percent this year and with potential to unlock huge opportunities for jobs and growth in the UK,” the embassy says in the statement.

It adds that while the focus of the trip is about “opening doors” to future trade, deals worth over £750 million are expected to be sealed by the end of the trip.

On EU-Asean free trade

Aside from boosting bilateral trade, Cameron will also put his weight behind an European Union-Asean deal. He will call for the EU and Asean to jump start negotiations talks on a free trade agreement during his scheduled visit to the Asean secretariat in Jakarta on Monday evening, after the meeting with Joko.

A deal between these two trading blocs has the potential to benefit the British economy by £3 billion every year — nearly £120 per household — “by creating one of the biggest free trade areas in the world with combined GDP of over $20 trillion,” the press statement says.

Speaking ahead of the Southeast Asian tour, Cameron said Britain could open up more markets for its businesses by leveraging the power of the EU’s single market with 500 million consumers to secure “bold, ambitious trade deals with these fastest, growing economies.”

“The EU has shown this can be done with the trade agreement with Singapore and the recent breakthrough in talks with Vietnam but an EU-Asean trade deal would really turbo charge growth across the single market,” the prime minister was quoted as saying in the statement.

He added he would make the case in discussions with Asean Secretary General Le Luong Minh.

Cameron’s call comes as Asean countries prepare to establish an economic community by the end of this year.

The statement from the British Embassy notes that Australia, Japan and China “are already ahead of the game,” having implemented free trade deals with the Southeast Asian bloc.

“As the largest foreign investor in Asean, the EU should seize on this position to secure a new trade deal,”  it says.

To support Britain’s objectives in the region, Cameron has appointed a trade envoy specifically for the Asean Economic Community, Richard Graham.

Graham, who will join the prime minister for talks with Le, will take on the role alongside his existing role as trade envoy to Indonesia.

Joko on his part said Indonesia would restart this year its talks with the EU concerning Indonesia-EU comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

Justice Ministry: No Idul Fitri Sentence Cuts for Graft Convicts – Yet

Jakarta Globe, Erwin Sihombing, Jul 21, 2015

Corruption convict Muhammad Nazaruddin, center, was one of dozens of people
 reported to have received a sentence reduction for Idul Fitri. The Justice
Ministry has denied this. (Antara Photo/Novrin Arbi)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Justice Ministry has insisted that no sentence reductions were awarded to corruption convicts for the Idul Fitri holiday last week, following local media reports of cuts of up to two months for some notorious convicts.

“Not a single letter [approving a sentence cut] has been issued, in keeping with Government Regulation 99 of 2012,” M. Akbar Hadiprabowo, a spokesman for the ministry, told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Any sentence cuts, known locally as remissions, reportedly handed out to graft convicts “are merely recommendations from local offices of the Justice Ministry and are still being processed,” he added.

The 2012 government regulation was introduced by the administration of then-minister of justice Amir Syamsuddin to make it more difficult for corruption convicts to qualify for a sentence cut, as part of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration’s wider efforts to get tough on graft.

Under the regulation, corruption convicts must pay all fines and damages imposed by a court before they can qualify. They must also cooperate with law enforcement authorities investigating others implicated in the same case, and must have approval from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on whether they deserve a sentence cut.

The current justice minister, Yasonna Laoly from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), drew widespread condemnation earlier this year for calling for the regulation to be rescinded because it was too harsh on graft convicts.

His office, though, appears to still be abiding by the regulation in not approving sentence cuts this Idul Fitri. (The ministry traditionally hands out sentence cuts ranging from 15 days to two months during major public holidays.)

Local media reported last week that dozens of corruption convicts, including high-profile prisoners such as former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin and rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan, had received sentence cuts of up to two months.

Nazaruddin is serving a seven-year sentence for bid-rigging in a contract for the construction of an athletes’ village in Palembang, South Sumatra, for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games; Gayus has been hit by a string of convictions for bribery, passport forgery and other offenses, putting his sentence at 30 years.

Amid Talk of Reshuffle, Joko Admits: ‘I Need People I Can Trust’

Jakarta Globe, Primus Dorimulu, Novy Lumanauw & Ezra Sihite, Jul 09, 2015

President Joko Widodo’s nine months in office have been plagued by policy
dissonance between the president and his top officials, fueling calls for a cabinet
reshuffle. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo says he is looking for the right people to fill key administration posts, in the strongest signal yet that a cabinet reshuffle may be imminent.

“I need staffers I can trust,” the president said at a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday with chief editors from Indonesia’s major news organizations.

“My [ideal] staffers would be those who, when they speak, the public believes them, investors believe them, the markets believe them. Their words are irrefutable,” he said, but did not give any names. “I’m still racking my brains. It’s hard [to find such people].”

Some nine months into his term in office, Joko has yet to name a presidential spokesman, the absence of which has caused substantial discrepancies between statements made by the president and those by his vice president and ministers.

The lack of unison has fueled distrust among both constituents and overseas investors who once saw Joko, a former furniture businessman and a political outsider, as someone who could institute much-needed reforms in a bureaucratic system plagued with corruption, favoritism and red tape.

Joko conceded that he needed the help of a credible spokesman to regain public trust.

“It is not easy to look for a suitable spokesman. I have been looking… but I haven’t found one,” he said.

Drawn on the issue of a possible reshuffle, which Vice President Jusuf Kalla has repeatedly said in imminent, the president declined to say whether it would happen at all.

“I never mentioned a reshuffle; the press keeps talking about a reshuffle,” Joko said.

However, he acknowledged some of the arguments made by various analysts and experts calling for a cabinet shakeup.

“I admit that our economy is slowing down,” he said. “I am trying [to address it] day and night.”

Calls for a reshuffle have intensified since Joko’s administration failed to show as much as a working plan in April, six months into his presidency.

Political observer Cecep Hidayat of the University of Indonesia noted that since then, many have scrutinized the performance of his ministers, some of whom have been squabbling among themselves.

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, for example, has accused a key cabinet member of insulting the president. Although he refused to give a name, there is little doubt his accusation is targeted at Rini Soemarno, the minister for state-owned enterprises, who has had run-ins with Tjahjo and Joko’s political patron Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

“There is no unity [inside Joko’s cabinet],” Cecep said, adding that some ministers had even issued policies that went against the president’s instructions.

One notable example was Joko’s instruction to open the restive province of Papua to foreign journalists. However, chief security minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno defiantly insisted that foreign journalists should continue to seek permission from a multitude of government agencies and that they should be monitored at all times during their time in Papua to prevent them from “abusing their permit by reporting unfavorable stories.”

Cecep said there should be compromise for ministers who act against the president’s commands, but Joko’s continued attempt to appease his political supporters may be holding him back from forming a more credible and effective cabinet.

Joko’s inner circle of political elites, Cecep added, may even have tried to persuade him to replace credible ministers they deem “disloyal” to their agenda for power and control.

“If Joko indeed plans to reshuffle his ministers, he should consider this matter carefully and thoroughly so he won’t make the same mistakes again  ̶  particularly in the economic and defense sectors and in the coordination posts,” Cecep said.

KPK Arrests Three Judges in Bribery Bust

Jakarta Globe, Arnold Sianturi, Erwin Sihombing & Fana Suparman, Jul 09, 2015

Tripeni Irianto Putro, center, the chief judge of the Medan State Administrative
 Court, was one of five people arrested by the KPK on Thursday on suspicion of
transacting a bribe. (Antara Photo/Irsan Mulyadi)

Jakarta. Antigraft investigators have arrested three judges from a court in Medan, North Sumatra, on suspicion of taking thousands of dollars in bribes.

Tripeni Irianto Putro, the chief judge of the Medan State Administrative Court, or PTUN, was arrested in the sting on Thursday by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), along with fellow judges Anir Fauzi and Dermawan Ginting, a bailiff named Yusril Sofyan, and an unidentified lawyer.

The bust came shortly after the lawyer delivered the cash, believed to be a bribe, to Tripeni at his office.

“From the scene, KPK investigators managed to confiscate cash in American dollars,” said Priharsa Nugraha, a spokesman for the KPK, although he did not disclose the exact amount.

The five were scheduled to be flown from Medan to the KPK headquarters in Jakarta later on Thursday.

PTUN spokesman Sugiyanto said that at the time of their arrest, the three judges had been hearing a case of alleged abuse of authority involving a former treasurer of the North Sumatra provincial administration.

The lawyer arrested, Sugiyanto said, was representing Fuad, the defendant in the case.

Legal expert Frans Hendra Winarta from Pelita Harapan University, outside Jakarta, said Thursday’s arrest highlighted the need to overhaul the prevailing legislation on lawyers.

The law, he said, held a loophole allowing lawyers to hide behind the lawyer-client privilege when caught in acts of corruption involving the judiciary.

“Society knows that lawyers mastermind many cases of bribery,” said Frans, himself a lawyer.

He also criticized the national bar association, Peradi, for failing to act tough on its members caught up in cases of graft.

“Lawyers caught bribing judges should be fired without warning for gross violation [of the ethical code of conduct]. But the bar organization says nothing, so cases of criminal and ethical violations remain rampant,” Frans said.

He added that any amendment to the law should allow recognition for other bar associations besides Peradi. “A single association causes authoritarianism. There is no healthy competition,” he said.

Anger and Protests as Government Blindsides Public With New Pension Restriction

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, July 02, 2015

President Joko Widodo inaugurates the state worker pension fund, BPJS
Ketenagakerjaan, on Wednesday. (Antara Photo/Idhad Zakaria)

Jakarta. Thousands of Indonesians have taken to the Internet and the streets in protest at a new government regulation requiring employees and former employees to wait until retirement age to withdraw their pension funds.

An online petition challenging the government’s decision to revise the longstanding regulation on the state-pension fund withdrawal system was launched on Change.org and within less than two days garnered nearly 60,000 signatures.

The petition was initiated by Gilang Mahardika, a Yogyakarta resident who resigned from his job after working for five years.

Gilang had planned to start his own business with his pension fund, deducted from his monthly salary and managed by the Social Security Administration Body for Employment, or BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, which used to be known as Jamsostek.

Gilang, who resigned in May this year, went to a BPJS Ketenagakerjaan office to withdraw his funds only to be told that the rules had changed since the institution began full operations on Wednesday under a new regulation.

“My happiness to finally get the money I planned to use for business ended with a bitter pill,” Gilang wrote.

An official at the BPJS office told him that only those who have been paying into the pension fund for at least 10 years would be allowed to withdraw – and even then, the withdrawal is capped at 10 percent of the total fund. The full fund can only been withdrawn once the policy holder turns 56 years old.

The life expectancy in Indonesia is 70 years.

Previous rules governing the Jamsostek scheme stipulated that the full fund could be withdrawn after five years of paying into the scheme.

Gilang’s online protest spread quickly, with thousands of social media users echoing their disappointment on Facebook and Twitter, and demanding the government rescind the new regulation.

Angry protesters claimed the government was effectively robbing the public with the revised rules.

Despite the outcry, though, Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri insisted that the new regulation was in line with prevailing laws.

“There’s no such thing [as] the government taking advantage of the people. This is all about management,” he said on Thursday.

“After 10 years they will be allowed to access 10 percent of funds for miscellaneous necessities and an additional 30 percent for housing.”

BPJS Ketenagakerjaan president director Elvyn Masassya said the new regulation was more in line with the scheme’s intended purpose to provide a pension fund than the previous setup under Jamsostek.

“A pension fund is meant for people who have retired. A 10-year wait is more ideal,” he said on Thursday as quoted by CNN Indonesia. (Yes, Elvyn is a man.) “The funds are still there and can be claimed in full when a worker is 56 years old.”

Democratic Party legislator Dede Yusuf, who chairs the House of Representatives’ oversight commission in welfare, said the new regulation was needed to prevent BPJS Ketenagakerjaan from becoming cash-strapped like its health insurer counterpart, BPJS Kesehatan.

While disgruntled citizens in Jakarta opted to raise a ruckus online, workers in the industrial island of Batam, in the Riau Islands province, took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the new regulation, Batamnews.co.id reported.

Some 200 workers marched on the local BPJS Ketenagakerjaan office demanding to meet with officials there. A scuffle ensued when the workers were denied entry into the office.

The local BPJS office eventually agreed to postpone the implementation of the new regulation until after the Idul Fitri celebration which falls on July 17.

There was a similar protest in Bogor, just south of the capital, where hundreds of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan policy holders protested what they denounced as the government’s negligence in informing them about the drastic change in policy.

The Bogor office said there was nothing it could do to change the rules but to forward the people’s grievances to the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan head office in Jakarta.

Andy Sinaga, of the workers’ rights advocacy group Labor Institute Indonesia, said the regulation went against the spirit of Indonesia’s universal social welfare scheme, which is supposed to work for the benefit of the people.

Andy also said that labor unions and workers’ groups had never been consulted during the drafting of the new regulation. The government, he added, had showed itself to be insensitive toward the impact that Indonesia’s economic slowdown was having on the workforce, including mass layoffs in various industries.

“Workers need cash to survive. With Idul Fitri just days away, there’s an extra need for cash,” Andy said as quoted by Rakyat Merdeka Online.

“President Jokowi must act and revoke this one-sided decision because it victimizes the participants of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan themselves.”