Yerica Lai, Jakarta – State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has tapped Democratic Party politician Andi Arief, a close aide of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as a new commissioner of the state-owned electricity company PLN.
Andi currently serves as the head of the campaign division of the Democratic Party, which was part of the electoral alliance the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) behind the victory of president-elect and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto in the February election. Andi was also among politicians and businessmen in Prabowo's campaign team.
Andi's appointment was confirmed by his colleague Syahrial Nasution of the Democratic Party on Tuesday.
"[He was] appointed to be one of the PLN commissioners in addition to the new president commissioner Burhanuddin Abdullah, who replaced Agus Martowardojo," Syahrial told reporters.
Burhanuddin served as the governor of Bank Indonesia between 2003 and 2008. He led the expert council of Prabowo's presidential campaign for the election in February.
Both Andi and Burhanuddin, according to Syahrial, were officiated into their new positions on Tuesday at the PLN headquarters in Jakarta.
Andi declined to comment about his appointment, only saying, as quoted by Tempo.co: "I want to report [about my appointment] to the party chairman AHY first". He was referring to Democratic Party chief Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the eldest son of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Andi and Burhanuddin's new roles follow a long list of Prabowo's campaigners appointed to key positions at several SOEs of late.
Among the appointees is Simon Aloysius Mantri, a Gerindra Party politician and the deputy treasurer of the Prabowo campaign team, who was recently named president commissioner of state-owned energy giant Pertamina.
Prabowo ran for president in February alongside his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka and won the three-way election by a landslide, partly dependent on the tacit support of Gibran's father, the outgoing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/07/24/close-aide-of-sby-appointed-pln-commissioner.htm