MP Rejects Luhut’s Proposal to Remove State Losses from Corruption Offences
Rudianto Lallo, a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission III, has rejected National Economic Council (DEN) chairman Luhut Binsar Panjaitan’s proposal to remove state losses from the categories of corruption offences.
Lallo said Luhut’s proposal was not relevant to the context of law enforcement in Indonesia, particularly given the commitment to combating corruption under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
“In my view, Mr Luhut’s statement is not relevant to Indonesia’s legal-policy context and should not be applied,” Lallo said when contacted on Tuesday (21 October).
Although the proposal refers to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), Lallo said it could not necessarily be applied within Indonesia’s anti-corruption culture.
He said UNCAC’s definition of corruption concerns bribery, whereas corruption in Indonesia takes many forms in practice.
“I believe UNCAC has not been incorporated into Indonesia’s legal policy or our constitutional legal policy. Therefore, it cannot yet be followed,” he said.
Under Indonesian law, Lallo explained, corruption has three elements: an unlawful act, the enrichment of oneself or another person, and losses to state finances. He said corruption cases continued to proliferate despite these definitions.
“In my opinion, the formulation put forward by Mr LBP is already in line with the rules of Indonesia’s constitutional legal policy as it stands today,” said the NasDem politician.
Lallo said he was concerned that Luhut’s proposal to remove state losses as an element of corruption would hinder anti-corruption efforts. He argued that the elements set out in several laws were working effectively.
During the first two years of President Prabowo’s administration, he said, many perpetrators of environmental and natural-resource crimes who had previously escaped scrutiny were now being detained. He feared Luhut’s proposal could instead set back anti-corruption efforts.
“Mr Luhut’s idea would run up against many regulations, rules and laws, and in my view could actually damage our legal system,” he said.
Luhut has claimed that President Prabowo agrees with a DEN study stating that corruption is limited to bribery and does not include state financial losses.
He said the study was based on UNCAC, which Indonesia ratified through Law No. 7 of 2006.
Luhut said Indonesia was the only country to include state financial losses in its definition of corruption. He argued that applying this element to corruption offences places a burden on the business sector, including the Indonesia Investment Authority (BPI) Danantara, which oversees state-owned enterprises. He said every business operation carries its own risks.
“The President also agrees with the study prepared by the National Economic Council team on the definition of corruption, because it is important for corruption enforcement in Indonesia to meet international standards,” Luhut said at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday (20 October).