In July 2018, the Constitutional Court decided to prohibit political party officials from becoming members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD). In response, the General Election Commission (KPU) issued a KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 26/2018 (which revised PKPU No. 14/2018) and canceled the nomination of several individuals, including Oesman Sapta Odang (OSO), the current leader of the DPD who is also the Chairman of Hanura. OSO objected to the KPU decision and challenged the PKPU 26 in the Supreme Court. In the last week of October 2018, the Supreme Court granted OSO’s lawsuit. Entering April 2019, the case sparked another debate after the Supreme Court and the State Administrative Court (PTUN) demanded the KPU to execute their decisions though it ran contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court. The KPU refused to comply.

The trial of the bribers in the Drinking Water Supply System (SPAM) construction projects is ongoing. We know that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named 8 suspects, but the case turns out to be an important lead in uncovering a nasty corruption habit in the Ministry of Public Works. Recently the KPK announced that 69 officials of the Ministry of Public Works (all are Commitment-Making Officials – PPK) had voluntarily returned the bribe money they had received. The total money returned reached over Rp40 billion. Separately, the remaining defendants in the case of alleged corruption that ensnared the Regent of Mojokerto Mustafa Kamal Pasha were convicted last week. All defendants were declared guilty.

It has been almost a year since we’re exposed to the dispute in PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Tbk (AISA). Since then, the disputed parties had conducted media war, exchanged lawsuits, and even filed police reports against each other. The Company’s subsidiaries suffered from the dispute as the creditors of the Company lost faith in the management. We thought the dispute would end when a new management took over the Company, but that did not happen. On March 26, 2019, the Company published a disclosure of information on the Stock Exchange and uploaded a document of fact-based investigative report which is the result of examination by PT Ernst & Young Indonesia (EY). The document is suppose to be a confidential and limited document, which is why when the document was uploaded it led to an uproar. On April 2, 2019, Joko Mogoginta decided to file yet another police report against the parties he deemed responsible for uploading the document.  

In 2018 we reported the development of the ongoing dispute between PT Aryaputra Teguhartha—a company with links to PT Ongko Multicorpora (PT Mitra Investindo Multicorpora)—, Kaharudin Ongko—Bank Umum Nasional and former defendant in the BLBI graft case—, and PT Bunas Finance Indonesia Tbk (now PT BFI Finance Tbk or BFIN). There are three lawsuits filed by Aryaputra as of then including a police report also filed by the Company. The prolonged dispute, as we all know, was brought to life in May 2018 when Aryaputra held a press conference and since then conducted various legal efforts (link: https://yosefardi.com/2018/05/16/kaharudin-ongko-v-bfi-finance/). Recently, the Jakarta State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) read their decision and ruled in favor of BFIN, contrary to the verdict previously decided by the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).

After being named a suspect for almost two years, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally detained Markus Nari (Golkar) on April 1, 2019. Separately, after three months of trial, the KPK prosecutors read their demands for the disgraced Regent of South Lampung one Zainudin Hasan, who was caught following a Sting Operation conducted in mid-2018.

The struggle for the leadership of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has been going on since 2017. By the end of December 2018, the Honorary Council of the DPD decided to temporarily dismiss Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas (the Queen of Yogyakarta) from her leadership position. GKR Hemas responded by submitting a Judicial Review petition at the Constitutional Court—GKR Hemas and several members of the DPD had filed a Judicial Review before the brawl happened in April 2017, but the court rejected the petition. The Constitutional Court need more time than expected. Two weeks ago the DPD decided to officially dismiss the queen from the DPD. The queen then filed a lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court, accusing the 17 members of the Honorary Council of the DPD of committing tort. GKR Hemas demanded the Court to annul the Council’s decision and she demanded a compensation of Rp3 trillion.

The trial of the bribers in the Drinking Water Supply System (SPAM) construction projects began on March 20, 2019. On April 1, 2019, the court listened to the accounts of an important witness. In the meantime, the examination of witnesses in the stage of inquisition of the bribees continues.

In 2017 we reported on the arbitration lawsuit submitted by the Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited (BSE: 533047). The Company filed a lawsuit at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) against the Government of Indonesia on the overlapping coal mining concession dispute. The case made headlines after Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) mentioned it while talking about regional government and abuse of power. On March 29, 2019, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that the Government had won the dispute.

It’s been a while since the last time we heard of the criminal allegations implicating PT Sentul City Tbk (BKSL). Previously we heard that the Company’s then-President Director Kwee Cahyadi Kumala a.k.a Swie Teng was prosecuted and found guilty of involvement in the corrupt conversion of forest area implicating the former Regent of Bogor Rachmat Yasin. Recently, the Company’s name made headlines for having a land dispute with the residents of Bojong Koneng village located in Babakan Madang, the regency of Bogor. The residents accused the Company of stealing their land. The Company denied the allegation. The police later entered the picture.