PDIP to Expel Sukoharjo Regent Following KPK Sting Operation
The Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) has stated it will dismiss Etik Suryani as a cadre of the party following her arrest in a sting operation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The Sukoharjo Regent has now been named a suspect in an alleged corruption case.
PDIP Central Executive Board Chairman Deddy Yevri Sitorus said the party has its own rules regarding punishment for cadres caught in KPK sting operations. “Our rules enforce the dismissal of membership status,” Deddy said when contacted on Sunday, 12 July 2026.
The dismissal of cadres caught in sting operations, he said, takes effect immediately. He did not yet explain the party’s reasoning for directly dismissing cadres caught in operations by the anti-corruption agency.
In a separate occasion, another PDIP Central Executive Board Chairman, Andreas Hugo Pareira, said the party had received a report from the Central Java Regional Executive Board regarding Etik Suryani’s case. Andreas said the report from the party’s regional administrators requested that the Sukoharjo Regent be investigated.
“Sanctions can range from deactivation, a warning, to dismissal,” he said when contacted on Sunday, 12 July 2026.
Etik Suryani was caught in a KPK sting operation on Thursday, 9 July 2026. Besides the Sukoharjo Regent, the KPK also detained eight other individuals: Richard Tri Handoko, Head of the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD); Tri Mulyo, Head of General Affairs at the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Secretariat and a confidant of the Regent; and Abdul Haris Widodo, Regional Secretary of Sukoharjo Regency.
Also caught in the operation were Nardi, Secretary of the Sukoharjo Regency BPKAD; Teguh Pramono, Assistant for Government and People’s Welfare at the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Secretariat; Bowo Sutopo Dwi Atmojo, Head of the Sukoharjo Regency Public Works and Public Housing Agency (PUPR); Erwan Triawan, a private sector party; and Hafidz Nur Irfan, a student.
KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu explained that Etik Suryani issued a Regent’s Decree on the Recipients and Amount of Regional Tax Collection Incentive Payments and a Regent’s Decree on the Recipients and Amount of Regional Retribution Collection Incentive Payments at the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Financial, Revenue and Asset Management Agency for the Year 2026.
The two decrees were allegedly used by Etik as a tool to collect levy payments within the Sukoharjo BPKAD. According to him, Etik’s request allegedly continued the tradition of the previous regent, who is Etik’s husband. Etik used coded instructions in Javanese, essentially requesting that the amount of the payment be adjusted to match the payments made to the previous regent.
The previous regent also instructed BPKAD officials at the time with the command “Wes dilantik ojo mendeleng wae,” which means “You’ve been inaugurated, don’t just stay silent,” so that BPKAD employees would provide payments to the regent.
At Etik’s behest, Richard allegedly instructed echelon III officials within the BPKAD to deposit the levy deductions to Nardi as Secretary of BPKAD from 2012 to 2026, which were then passed on to Etik. During the 2021-2026 period, the total levy payments received by Etik reached Rp 2.93 billion.
Furthermore, the KPK suspects Etik instructed Tri Mulyo to manage routine payments from regional apparatus organisations (OPD). The amount requested also allegedly continued the legacy of the previous regent, using Javanese code to match the amount to the previous period. During the previous regent’s period, he requested payments from general affairs employees with the instruction “Golekno 500 akhir tahun,” meaning “Find Rp 500 million for the end of the year.”
At Etik’s instruction, Tri Mulyo collected payments from various OPDs annually and during holiday bonus periods. Additionally, Tri allegedly provided payments originating from fictitious expenditure receipts and procurement mark-ups within the General Affairs Section of the Sukoharjo Regency Government.