Ministry Of BUMN Debates With Adian Napitupulu, Faisal Basri: Serving Makes A Hassle

JAKARTA - The feud between 98 activists who are also members of Commission VII DPR RI, Adian Napitupulu, and the Ministry of BUMN under Erick Thohir regarding the allocation of BUMN commissioner seats continues.

INDEF's Senior Economist, Faisal Basri, has spoken on this matter. According to him, the actions of the Ministry of BUMN which served the debate with Adian Napitupulu were troublesome. Supposedly, BUMNs focus on solving problems that exist in state-owned companies.

"Just take care of the SOEs. Don't dream of being able to take care of others if you don't take care of your own affairs. Who is the commissioner, who the board of directors is, it's a hassle. Debating with Adian Napitupulu is even more troublesome," he said in a virtual discussion, Tuesday, July 28.

As is well known, the feud between Adian and the Special Staff of the Minister of BUMN, Arya Sinulingga, started with Adian's statement that all directors and commissioners of BUMN were entrusted.

Adian said that referring to the statement of Deputy Minister of BUMN Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who said that the total number of state-owned companies reached 1,000 to 2,000.

"From 6,000 to 7,200 commissioners and directors of BUMN, in my opinion, all are entrusted," said Adian during the Casual Talk with Adian Napitupulu which was broadcast on the YouTube Chat Yuk 2020 account, Thursday, July 23.

According to him, all directors and commissioners of BUMN were entrusted persons because so far there had never been any vacancies for the general public to register by bringing application letters and having their abilities tested.

"I want to ask, have we not read it in newspapers, on the internet, or have information posted on flyers looking for vacancies for people filling positions of directors and commissioners of BUMN. Are there or not? Are there or not? Never," he said.

"What does it mean, the position of the directors and commissioners of BUMN is not a position open to the people so that he can come with a job application with cv (curiculum vitae), then be selected. No, it has never been opened," added Adian.

Special Staff of the Ministry of BUMN, Arya Sinulingga, spoke up about Adian's statement. According to him, Adian actually does not understand the stages of selecting directors and commissioners in state-owned companies.

"That Bang Adian may not understand the corporate culture in finding directors or commissioners," he said, when contacted by VOI, Thursday, July 23.

According to Arya, corporations have their own mechanisms in choosing their leaders. This is what makes it different. He admitted that so far there have been no companies that have been looking for directors or commissioners openly in public or published in newspapers.

"Try looking for a company that has been looking for directors or commissioners openly, right? There have never been any. There are certain ways or stages in a corporate search for directors or commissioners and that does not mean it is a deposit," he explained.

Not accepting Arya's statement, Adian said, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) was open regarding the selection of directors and commissioners in BUMN. This is because the public has the right to know the system for accepting commissioners and directors in state-owned companies.

Moreover, he said, so far the state has spent a budget of Rp 3.7 trillion per year to pay the directors and commissioners.

"What is covered? What is hidden? What is hidden? Why should it be closed if it is open. BUMN is not a State Intelligence Agency like the CIA or M16 whose recruitment process is secret. Stop playing as if BUMN is a Mission Impossible film," said Adian in his statement. he wrote quoted Sunday, July 26.