Commission V Chairman Addresses Misinformation on Supporting Minimarket Closures for Village Cooperatives
The chairman of House Commission V, Lasarus, has declared that social media claims suggesting parliament is pushing for the closure of minimarket chains such as Alfamart and Indomaret constitute false and unverifiable information.
He said the discourse circulating on social media regarding minimarket proliferation, which featured a photograph of House Speaker Puan Maharani, was inaccurate. The discussion in question was never raised by Puan but rather by Lasarus himself during a working meeting with the Minister for Villages and Disadvantaged Regional Development.
“I raised this matter, and the video recording of the meeting between Commission V and the Village Minister can be viewed,” Lasarus said in a written statement on Monday, 23 February 2026.
He explained that during the meeting, no statement was made advocating the closure of minimarkets. Instead, Lasarus recounted various complaints from the public, particularly small shop owners who had been forced to shut down because they could not compete with minimarket chains.
According to him, small traders are unable to match the expansion of minimarkets backed by conglomerates extending their business reach into the most remote village areas across Indonesia. On that basis, he continued, he proposed that the expansion of Alfamart and Indomaret should no longer extend into remote areas but be limited to district and sub-district levels.
Under such conditions, Lasarus argued, the supply chain for basic necessities in villages and hamlets could be supported by local small traders, Village-Owned Enterprises, and Village Red and White Cooperatives (KDMP). “There is recorded evidence that can be viewed openly on the official House news portal,” Lasarus said.
The discourse around closing minimarkets in favour of KDMP has been circulating widely on social media. One account that posted claims of parliament pushing for minimarket closures was @bitorexpost, which included a photograph of Puan Maharani in its post.
The post bore the caption “Breaking News: House Supports Village Minister in Closing Alfa-Indomaret for Village Cooperatives” placed beneath Puan’s photograph. The image, uploaded on Sunday 22 February, had garnered more than 28,000 likes, 22,000 comments, and over 16,000 reposts.
Lasarus stressed that the post constituted false information with no credible basis. “That post is a hoax and tendentious,” said the PDIP politician.
Previously, in November 2025, Commission V held a meeting with the Village Minister which included discussion on minimarket expansion into remote village areas. Village Minister Yandri Susanto said during that meeting that the extensive expansion of minimarkets could threaten the development of KDMP.
Yandri stated that KDMP development would not proceed optimally if minimarket expansion were left unregulated. “It means it is not apple to apple. They are already very large, very monopolistic,” Yandri said.