Politics: Winners and Losers in the Jokowi Administration

Toward the end of 2015, the nation was shocked by a political scandal involving Setya Novanto, speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR). The top Golkar official was caught on tape demanding shares of the US-based mining company, Freeport. The incident was reported by Energy and Mining Minister Sudirman Said to the DPR's ethics council.

Following an investigation and witness testimonies, Setya was found guilty of committing an ethical breach. The verdict forced the embattled Setya to resign from his post. But public satisfaction turned out to be short-lived. The following day, Golkar announced that Setya would be the new Golkar faction chair at the DPR. The message was clear: being found guilty of an ethical breach does not disqualify a Golkar party member from holding public office.

December 29, 2015