Democrat Party Responds to Jokowi on KPK Law: No Legislation Is Deliberated by Parliament Without Government Involvement

Member of House Commission III and Democrat Party faction leader Hinca Pandjaitan has responded to former President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) claim that he did not sign the revised KPK Law. Hinca insisted that no legislation is deliberated and passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) without government involvement.

“At that time, I was also involved in the deliberations. No law can be completed by the DPR alone — the government is always involved. It is impossible for such meetings to consist only of DPR members,” Hinca said at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (23/2/2026).

He explained that every bill, whether initiated by the DPR or the government, is deliberated jointly. The government, he said, is represented by ministers appointed by the president at every stage of deliberation through to the final decision at the plenary session.

“If former President Jokowi’s reasoning was, ‘I didn’t sign it, therefore I didn’t agree,’ that is incorrect. Because even without a signature, the law automatically takes effect. That is precisely where the ambiguity lies,” he said.

“He was obliged to sign it but chose not to — yet whether signed or unsigned, it takes effect regardless,” he added.

Hinca stated that if there were objections to the substance of the bill, such opposition should have been raised during the deliberation stages, including at the first-level meetings or during decision-making at the plenary session.

“We were there participating in the deliberations, and those discussions were highly significant — there was dialogue, with both government and DPR elements present. So when the former President Jokowi suddenly announced this, I was bewildered. All of us from the DPR were asking questions. It came completely out of the blue,” he said.

“We feel that this is not right. No law is deliberated solely by the DPR — the government is always involved, and the government represents the president. The president appoints ministers to represent him,” he added.

Jokowi’s Statement

Previously, former President Jokowi expressed support for a proposal by former KPK Chairman Abraham Samad to restore the KPK Law to its earlier version. Jokowi noted that the revised version was initiated by the DPR.

“Yes, I agree — it would be good to revert the KPK Law to the old version — because the revision was initiated by the DPR. Let’s be clear about that — it was the DPR’s initiative,” Jokowi said, as reported on Friday (13/2).

Jokowi acknowledged that the KPK Law was revised during his presidency on the DPR’s initiative. However, he emphasised that he did not sign the revised legislation.

“Yes, indeed it was revised. At that time, it was revised on the DPR’s initiative, but I did not sign it,” he said.