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Semen Gresik fires Rizal Ramli over alleged link to violent protests
The shareholders of state-owned cement producer PT Semen Gresik have fired president commissioner Rizal Ramli, following news he was allegedly involved in masterminding a student rally over fuel price rises that led to a riot
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The shareholders of state-owned cement producer PT Semen Gresik have fired president commissioner Rizal Ramli, following news he was allegedly involved in masterminding a student rally over fuel price rises that led to a riot.
Shareholders at a meeting Friday concluded that Rizal, who was coordinating minister for the economy during President Abdurrahman Wahid's administration, was guilty of "ethical violations and unprofessional conduct".
In a brief statement after the meeting, president director Dwi Soetjipto refused to elaborate on the ethical violations, saying only that "the decision was made by the shareholders".
The government, represented by the State Ministry for State Enterprises, owns 51 percent of shares in Semen Gresik. The remaining shares are owned by private companies.
The noted economist had served as Semen Gresik's chief commissioner for only six months before his expulsion from the board.
Rizal was a vocal opponent of the government's decision to increase fuel prices.
He has been linked to Tuesday's riots outside the House of Representatives, in which university students burned tires and cars and tore down parts of the House's fences. The protest was held in response to the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an average of 28.7 percent, effective May 24.
The following day, police apprehended 29 people allegedly involved in the riots, two of whom were accused of inciting the riots. On Thursday, seven people were declared suspects in the case.
The State Intelligence Agency stated a person with the initials "FY" masterminded the riots. FY is said to be Ferry Yuliantono, Rizal's secretary in the Indonesia Rise Committee.
Agency chief Syamsir Siregar reported his findings to National Police chief Gen. Sutanto on Thursday. Ferry was arrested Friday night upon his return that day from China.
He has denied any involvement in the riots.
Rizal denied the links and accused the government of conspiring against him.
"The rest of the shareholders had no problem with my leadership. One reason I can think of is that I often have different opinions with the government regarding the country's economy. Maybe that's what the government means as being unprofessional," Rizal said after the shareholder meeting.
"But I disagree. That's perfectly ethical. It's the minister for state enterprises who is being unprofessional and unethical in his judgment of my performance," Rizal said, referring to the state minister for state enterprises Sofyan Djalil.
Rizal also accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of playing a part in the decision to oust him.
"To have the shareholders say my leadership is in conflict with the commissioner code of ethics is just a ruse to cover up SBY's politically motivated intervention," Rizal said.
"I'm concerned this kind of political intervention still has a place in state enterprises, considering this company actually belongs to the state, not to government officials," he said.
Replacing Rizal as president commissioner is former president director of state-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang, Deddy Aditya Sumanegara.(anw)
