When the Sanctions for the Ethics of Members of the DPR are Only Considered to be the Wind

JAKARTA - Ahmad Sahroni became a discussion after he was actively appointed as Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the DPR. Last year, he received sharp criticism for his controversial remarks and was disabled from the DPR for six months.

Ahmdad Sahroni was re-appointed as Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the DPR on Thursday (19/2/2026) at the DPR Building. Previously, he had been sanctioned for being inactive because he was found to have violated the code of ethics.

The man nicknamed Crazy Rich Tanjung Priok replaced Rusdi Masse Mappasessu who resigned from the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) and officially joined the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).

The agenda for the inauguration of the leadership of Commission III of the DPR was led directly by the Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad.

"Therefore, the leadership of Commission III of the DPR from the Nasdem Party Faction has changed. The original Saudara Rusdi Masse Mappasessu was replaced by Saudara Ahmad Sahroni. Ahmad Sahroni will be appointed as Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the DPR to replace Rusdi Masse," said Dasco.

Ahmad Sahroni's return to the DPR, and immediately serving as Deputy Chairman of Commission III, became the focus of public attention on social media. Some netizens strongly criticized and questioned the ethics of public officials who returned to strategic positions after having been sanctioned for ethics.

But not a few have defended. They are grouped in this group assessing that the decision to reappoint is the institutional authority of the DPR and the political party that carries it, namely Nasdem.

Sahroni is one of the DPR members who has been highlighted by the public due to his controversial statement. He said that the person who asked for the dissolution of the DPR was the most stupid person in the world.

"The mental of such a human being is the mental of a stupid person in the world. Note, the person who just said to dissolve the DPR is a stupid person in the world. Why? Are we all smart people? We are not all stupid," said Sahroni on August 22, 2025.

Not only Sahroni, a number of other DPR members also received sharp criticism from the Indonesian people. Including Nasdem Party politician Nafa Urbach, who supports a house allowance of Rp50 million per month for each DPR member.

Also, the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Eko Patrio and Uya Kuya who were seen dancing in the middle of the 2025 MPR RI Annual Meeting. The two even made an unwise response when their joget action was criticized by the public.

Their actions are considered to have contributed to the escalation of public anger criticizing the increase in DPR members' allowances, leading to large demonstrations in a number of areas, including Jakarta throughout late August last year.

Ahmad Sahroni, Nafa Urbach, and Eko Patrio were found guilty by the Council of Honor Court (MKD) in alleged violations of the code of ethics. In November 2025, Sahroni was found guilty of violating the code of ethics and was given a non-active sanction from the DPR for six months.

Then, Nafa Urbach was also proven to have violated the code of ethics and was given a three-month non-active sanction. Meanwhile, Eko Patrio was deactivated from the position of DPR member for four months. Meanwhile, Uya Kuya was declared not proven to have violated the code of ethics and was reactivated as a member of the PAN DPR.

The decision to place Ahmad Sahroni back in the Deputy Chair of Commission II of the DPR has sparked controversy. Researcher of the Forum of Concerned Parliamentarians of Indonesia (Formappi) Lucius Karus said that the placement was problematic, because according to him, the Treasurer of the Nasdem Party should still be undergoing sanctions.

Lucius explained that Ahmad Sahroni was given a six-month suspension by the MKD, effective from the date Nasdem issued the letter of suspension on 31 August 2025. This means that there are still about two weeks of the punishment period left when he was re-appointed as Deputy Chairman of Commission III on February 19.

In addition, the Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Dasco, also did not specify when the six-month Sahroni sentence would end. The appointment of Ahmad Sahroni, which was carried out in the midst of uncertainty about the implementation of the ethical punishment, said Lucius, showed the condition of the DPR which was getting more and more confused.

"There is a nuance that the DPR is starting to like doing their job. The DPR is increasingly not representing the people," he said.

In addition, according to Lucius, the decision to reinstate Sahroni to the chair of the commission is also flawed ethically. The bad track record of Sahroni who made controversial statements that provoked public anger cannot be forgotten just because the sentence is over.

The DPR is actually an honorable institution, so according to Lucius it is not good to give the position of commission leader to someone who has been declared to have a problem in ethics.

"Giving positions to those who are declared to have problems in ethics is the same as insulting the honor of the parliamentary institution," he continued.

Head of the Advocacy Division of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) Egi Primayogha also criticized the reappointment of Ahmad Sahroni as Deputy Chairman of Commission III of the DPR. He assessed that this decision reflected the denial of the struggle of the demonstrators who were victims in the August 2025 demonstration.

Sahroni's return to Senayan also shows the failure of political parties in carrying out the function of the kaderisasi of their members and not siding with the principles of justice, public ethics, and accountability.