The end of the year is around the corner, but the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has no plan to rest. After finishing their examinations, investigations, and trials on dozens of companies that did not report their corporate actions on time as mandated by the law, the KPPU recently announced that they are examining four similar allegations. The KPPU also recently issued a regulation that specifically regulates the assessment of corporate actions that can trigger monopolistic practices or unfair business competition.

More than three years have passed since the dispute over the leadership of the Indonesian National Arbitration Board (BANI) began. BANI is split into BANI Mampang (referred to the nickname given by the media for the “original” BANI) and BANI Sovereign (which established as Perkumpulan BANI). Recently, we learned that the Supreme Court decided to uphold the verdict provided by the South Jakarta District Court. BANI Mampang is deemed to have no rights over the organization.

The Ministry of Finance met with the House Commission XI of the House of Representatives on December 2, 2019, to explain the plan to provide State Capital Injection (PMN) for State-owned Enterprises (BUMN). In the meeting, an interesting conversation happened. A member of the Commission Misbakhun (Golkar) asked the Minister about PT PANN, stating that he had never heard of the Company. Minister Sri Mulyani interestingly also said that she’s not familiar with the Company. PT PANN was established in the 70s. Though it’s been caught in a case of corruption, the Government plans to inject it with over Rp3 trillion. 

It has been almost three years since the former President Director of Dana Pensiun Pertamina M. Helmi Kamal Lubis was named a graft suspect following the problematic purchase of shares of PT Sugih Energy Tbk (SUGI). Since then, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) named two other suspects, namely Edward Soeryadjaja and one Betty Halim. Helmi was found guilty on January 29, 2018, and a year later, Edward was convicted. Two months ago, Edward’s attempt to appeal was declined by the Supreme Court, so we thought the case would be over. However, on December 2, 2019, Helmi decided to file a tort lawsuit against Dana Pensiun Pertamina. Helmi still believes that he is not guilty. 

Two months ago, we reported on the progress of the deliberation on the Land Bill. The Bill was included in the National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) in 2015. A draft exists, and the Government had submitted a problem inventory (DIM) on said draft to the House of Representatives at the end of 2017. Government ministries responsible for agrarian issues are supposedly unable to agree on some matters, hence the delay. In 2018, the ministries involved supposedly found common ground, but nothing has happened since. Several months ago, in the midst of social unrest caused by the plan to promulgate the controversial Bill on Criminal Code, the Government and the House of Representatives were supposed to promulgate the Land Bill, but the plan must be postponed once again. Since the KPK has announced their inquisition into a case of corruption involving two officials of the National Land Agency (BPN), talks about the Land Bill has surfaced.

Towards the end of last week, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced that it had uncovered a case of corruption involving officials of the National Land Agency (BPN) in connection with the issuance of Land Utilization (HGU) licenses for several palm plantations in West Kalimantan. The KPK immediately escalated the investigation to the stage of inquisition. Two officials were named suspects. The bribes reached more than Rp20 billion.

Two weeks ago, the new Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Kartika Wirjoatmodjo told the press that he would inform the Attorney General’s Office should fraud in the management of PT Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero) be found. That said, we later learned that the Jakarta High Prosecutors’ Office (Kejati Jakarta) had worked on a case for over a year. Recently, the Kejati announced that they had escalated the status of their investigation to an inquisition. Will there be a suspect soon?

On November 28, 2019, the Constitutional Court read their decision on the first Judicial Review petition filed to challenge the amended KPK Law. The petition was not accepted. The legal counsel of the applicants reacted strongly against the decision because they had withdrawn the petition over a week before the decision was read. What is happening?

Since the President appointed ST Burhanudin as the new Attorney General, he has made several statements on the possibilities of changes in the institution. Many parties welcomed some of the ideas put forward, but the most important thing for us is whether the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) can improve its performance under the leadership of ST Burhanudin. Many investigations into important cases of corruption do not yet have clear progress. One such case is the case of corruption related to the procurement of the Marine Vessels Power Plant (MVPP). The AGO has been examining and investigating the case for over a year, and yet no suspect has been named. 

It has been a while since we reported on the dispute between PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara (Persero) (KBN) and PT Karya Citra Nusantara (KCN). The district court had ruled in favor of KBN only to have their decision overturned by the Supreme Court two months ago. The Supreme Court concluded that the district court had no authority to examine the dispute. We are still waiting for the official statement of KCN. That being said, the dispute also has another side: corruption. The allegation of corruption involving KBN was reported both to the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), but we have not heard of any progress. Recently, the representatives of Keluarga Besar Nahdlatul Ulama (KBNU) in North Jakarta visited the KPK. They demanded an explanation of the report they had filed a while ago.