Gerindra on Syahri of Jember DPRD: Playing a Game, Forgot to Feed the Cattle

The leadership of the Gerindra faction in the Jember DPRD, East Java, explained the reason why member Achmad Syahri As Siddiqi played a game and smoked during a plenary session some time ago. The incident was captured on video and went viral. Recently, Syahri admitted it and faced disciplinary proceedings by the Party’s High Council in Jakarta last week. Hanan Kukuh Ratmono, head of the Gerindra faction in the Jember DPRD, said that according to his explanation Syahri played the game because he forgot to feed the cows in the online farming simulation game. “I asked the person for the reason for playing the game, and he said he forgot to feed the cows in the farming game,” Hanan Kukuh said after a faction meeting at the Jember DPRD, East Java, on Monday (May 18), quoted by Antara. He added that the faction had also ensured the issue was dealt with internally because Syahri is a member of the Gerindra faction and has undergone ethics proceedings at the Party’s Honor Council (MKP) in Jakarta with a decision delivered in the form of a hard warning and the last one. “We will stand firm on the decision’s outcome. If a similar error is committed again by Syahri, the sanctions would be heavier, namely removal from the Jember DPRD,” he said. He explained that the guidance/discipline would not only be given to Achmad Syahri but would be applied to all members of the Gerindra faction in the Jember DPRD if they commit similar violations. Meanwhile, Syahri was not seen attending two plenary meetings of the Jember DPRD on Monday afternoon: the Draft Regional Regulation on the Determination of Changes to the Regional Regulations Formation Programme (Propemperda) for Jember in 2026 and the plenary session on the Report on the Implementation of Reses I for 2026. Syahri told other DPRD members that he was not feeling well, so he could not attend those plenary sessions. Earlier, Achmad Syahri As Siddiqi, the Jember DPRD member who went viral for a video recording of him smoking while playing a game on his mobile phone during a meeting in the Jember DPRD, said he regretted the behaviour and offered an apology. He said he acted impulsively during that formal meeting which dealt with health issues in the Jember DPRD and that it was his first time. “I am very sorry, very sorry for doing such things and I will not repeat it,” he said. Although he had apologised, the hard-warning sanction from Gerindra remains in effect and the institutional sanction from the Jember DPRD is still awaiting the Honor Council (BK).