Lodewijk Chosen on TNI\'s Consideration

Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, is expected almost certainly to replace Azis Syamsuddin as deputy speaker of the DPR from the Golkar faction. It is believed there will be no resistance from party members.

KOMPAS/SATRIO PANGARSO WISANGGENI

Secretary General of the Golkar Party Lodewijk F Paulus (right) in Jakarta, Thursday (28/3/2019).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The secretary-general of the Golkar Party, who is now a member of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR), Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, is expected almost certainly to replace Azis Syamsuddin as deputy speaker of the DPR from the Golkar faction. Lodewijk\'s long-standing background in the Indonesian Military (TNI), including having served as the commander of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), is one of the considerations.

"Pak secretary-general is almost confirmed [to replace Azis]," said Golkar Party Deputy Chairman Bambang Soesatyo when contacted by Kompas on Sunday (26/9/2021).

On Saturday (25/9), Azis was detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and named a suspect for allegedly bribing a former KPK investigator, Stephanus Robin Pattuju. The bribe is believed to have been given to remove his name from a corruption investigation related to the approval of the amendment to the special allocation fund for Central Lampung in 2017. The day after Azis\' detention, the Golkar central executive board said Azis had resigned from his position as the deputy speaker of the DPR for political and security affairs.

Whatever the decision of the ketum (general chairman), we will certainly accept it because it is the ketum\'s authority.

Bambang further said the name Lodewijk to replace Azis might be submitted to the DPR on Monday (today). Asked about the reason why Lodewijk was chosen, Bambang said the decision was the prerogative of Golkar General Chairman Airlangga Hartarto. However, he believed the choice on Lodewijk would be accepted by all Golkar senior party members. "Whatever the decision of the ketum (general chairman), we will certainly accept it because it is the ketum\'s authority," he said.

Moreover, it is believed there will be no resistance from party members because Lodewijk is a retired TNI high-ranking officer, and historically, the TNI (formerly ABRI) also gave birth to Golkar.

Kompas notes show that Lodewijk\'s name as a replacement for Azis only appeared recently. Initially, it was reported that Golkar was preparing the chairman of the central executive board of Golkar, who is now deputy chairman of the DPR’s Commission III, Adies Kadir. There are also those who mention the deputy chairperson of Golkar, who is now deputy chairman of Commission II of the DPR, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, and the deputy chairperson of Golkar, who is now a member of Commission XI, Melchias Markus Mekeng.

Lodewijk\'s political career in Golkar only began after he retired from the TNI with the last rank of lieutenant general in 2015. Initially, the man who had acted as the commander of Kopassus, served as one of the leaders in the central executive board of Golkar before being appointed secretary-general of Golkar in early 2018.

Aris Setiawan Yodi

Secretary General of the Golkar Party Lodewijk F Paulus (center, standing) with the Golkar Party DPP management in Jakarta, Monday, (29/1/2018)

Not despicable

Adies Kadir, who was contacted separately, admitted he did not know the replacement for Azis. Likewise, when asked about the candidates to replace Azis. "Regarding the name of the replacement, no one knows because it is the prerogative of the general chairman. According to the plan, it will be announced on Tuesday (28/9) afternoon. Apparently the name is already in the general chairman\'s pocket," Adies said.

The deputy speaker of the DPR from the Gerindra Party faction, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said the mechanism for replacing Azis was quite simple. If Golkar has already named a replacement for Azis, a meeting will be held by the DPR Deliberative Body before being brought to the DPR plenary meeting. "It will be ratified at the plenary session," he said.

According to the plan, it will be announced on Tuesday (28/9) afternoon. Apparently the name is already in the general chairman\'s pocket.

DPR performance

Lucius Karus, a researcher at the Parliamentary Concerned Community Forum, urged Golkar to immediately process Azis\' replacement so as not to affect the performance of the DPR. He said that even though decision-making among the DPR leadership was collegial in nature, the vacancy of one element of the DPR leadership could still affect the DPR\'s performance. Azis\' duties and power in the political and security fields must be borne by other DPR leaders.

Accelerating the replacement of Azis is also important so that it can be considered by the public as Golkar\'s goodwill to fight corruption. Moreover, apart from Azis, another Golkar member who is also a member of the DPR, Alex Noerdin, was also involved in a corruption case and was detained by the prosecutor\'s office several days ago.

“This is a major blow for Golkar when the party wants to be seen as a clean party, but at the same time, one by one its members are involved in corruption cases. If there is no genuine effort from Golkar, it could have an impact on Golkar\'s image,” he added.

Indonesian Political Parameter executive director Adi Prayitno said that whoever replaces Azis had a double task, namely to restore the image of Golkar and the DPR. Because, according to him, Azis\' action has a great impact on public trust in the two institutions. "Don\'t let the public judge the DPR as a nest for corrupt politicians," he said.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.