Amnesty Hasto Kristiyanto Is Considered A 'Political Barter' To Perpetuate Power

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto's move to grant amnesty to the Secretary General of the PDI-P Hasto Kristiyanto is considered a form of 'political shelter'. The decision was also referred to as an effort to perpetuate power.

"The point of view is of course Hasto as a political barter," said Executive Director of Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO), Dedi Kurnia Syah to VOI, Friday, August 1.

According to him, one of the bases of Prabowo's decision to grant amnesty is to gather support to meet the 2029 Presidential Election (Pilpres). PDI Perjuangan is said to be one of the parties that has a large enough support base.

In addition, it is suspected that the granting of forgiveness is a precautionary measure for Prabowo if later the coalition parties that currently support him are divided.

"Political grounds for the preservation of power, including for his view ensuring that Prabowo Subianto has strong support," he said.

"Because maybe if the PDI-P does not enter, Prabowo Subianto is also not sure whether he will continue to be solid until 2009 or not," continued Dedi.

The alleged motive, said Dedi, was because it referred to the facts of the trial. The panel of judges has stated that Hasto Kristiyanto was proven in the trial of being involved in bribery for interim replacement (PAW) and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

In addition, seeing the status of Hasto Kristiyanto who is still the Secretary General of the PDIP. Thus, it is possible that there is a political motive behind the granting of the amnesty.

"In the PDI-P, he still considers Hasto as a central store as today. Hasto is still the secretary general even though he has conducted many trials. In fact, he has received a verdict related to punishment, the PDI-P remains firmly of the opinion that the Secretary General has not thought of a replacement. What does that mean? It means that Hasto is the PDI-P itself," said Dedi.

The Indonesian House of Representatives is known to have approved the granting of amnesty to the Secretary General of the PDIP Hasto Kristiyanto who was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in connection with the bribery case for the interim replacement (PAW) of the PDIP faction of the DPR. This decision is the result of a consultation meeting between the government and the DPR on this night at the request for consideration and approval of a letter from the President.

"The granting of approval and consideration of the President's letter number R42 Pres 07 2025 dated July 30, 2025 regarding amnesty to 1,116 people who have been convicted is granted amnesty including Hasto Kristiyanto's brother," said Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, Thursday, July 31.

In addition to Hasto's amnesty, the DPR also gave considerations and approvals for Presidential letter number R43/Pres072025 dated July 30, 2025 regarding the request for consideration of the DPR RI for granting abolition on behalf of Tom Lembong's brother.

"Abolition of Tom Lembong. Pres number R43/Pres 07 2025 dated July 30, 2025, on the consideration of the DPR RI's approval of giving an abolition to Tom Lembong's brother," said Dasco.

Abolition is the elimination or elimination of a criminal event. This term is contained in Article 14 of the 1945 Constitution which regulates the prerogative or the privilege of the president by taking into account the considerations of the DPR RI.