Puan Announces Asset Forfeiture Bill, Experts Urge Public Participation

Legal and development observer Hardjuno Wiwoho has welcomed a statement by House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Puan Maharani placing the Asset Forfeiture Bill among the priorities for the 2026-2027 sitting year. He stressed the importance of meaningful participation. According to Hardjuno, the commitment shows the DPR’s attention to the quality and legitimacy of the law to be produced. “Because it shows that the DPR wants the Asset Forfeiture Bill to have strong substance while also gaining public trust. This is a good direction in the law-making process,” Hardjuno said in Jakarta on Saturday (15/8/2026).

DPR Speaker Puan announced that the Asset Forfeiture Bill is part of 43 draft laws currently being prepared together with the government. The DPR, she continued, is still opening space for the public to provide input on the draft regulation. “The Asset Forfeiture Bill is still at the stage of receiving meaningful public participation, so that it can strengthen the substance of the law and have strong legitimacy,” Puan said in her opening speech for the sitting period at the Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Friday (14/8/2026).

Puan explained that the quality of a law is not measured solely by the number of legislative products completed, but by the benefits felt by the public. Through meaningful participation, the DPR wants the aspirations of various community groups to enter the legislative process so that the law has a strong social, political and economic foundation and does not overlap with the authority of state apparatus.