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View all search resultsTop court bans deputy ministers from moonlighting
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Constitutional Court chief justice Suhartoyo gestures on Aug. 28 as he presides over a ruling that bans deputy ministers from holding second jobs. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he Constitutional Court has banned deputy ministers from holding second jobs at state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a common practice during the administration of Prabowo Subianto.
In a 7-to-2 decision on Thursday, the court ruled that deputy ministers are barred from holding additional positions, including serving as commissioners and directors in state-owned or private companies and leading organizations funded by state or regional budgets.
The petition was filed by lawyer Viktor Santoso Tandiasa challenging the State Ministry Law, which only prohibits ministers from holding commissioner roles in a business – but not deputy ministers. He demanded that deputy ministers should be subject to the same restriction.
At least 30 of the 55 deputy ministers in Prabowo’s bloated cabinet, the largest since the country’s Reform era, are now also serving as commissioners in some of the country’s largest SOEs and their subsidiaries. Among them are Giring Ganesha, a former musician turned politician, serving on the board of aircraft maintenance company PT Garuda Maintenance Facility Aero Asia; Angga Raka Prabowo, a politician of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, as president commissioner of telecommunications giant Telkom Indonesia; and Ahmad Riza Patria, another Gerindra politician, as a commissioner at telecom operator Telkomsel.
In the ruling on Thursday, Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said that deputy ministers must focus solely on their ministerial duties, adding that the dual role restriction was necessary to ensure that deputy ministers devote full attention to their ministerial responsibilities.
Citing the court’s opinion issued as part of a 2020 ruling on the legality of deputy ministerial positions, Enny said prohibitions on dual roles for ministers were equally applicable to deputy ministers because they hold equivalent status as state officials.
“Therefore, it is important for the court to affirm in this ruling the prohibition of deputy ministers from holding concurrent positions, including as commissioners, just as ministers are prohibited, so that they can focus on handling ministerial affairs,” Enny said, noting that even serving as a commissioner demands significant time and attention.
