Surya Paloh: No Wind No Rain Suddenly There Is A Case Of Tom Lembong

Prabowo Subianto uploaded the moment of his meeting with the Head of NasDem Surya Paloh at his residence in Kertanegara, Thursday, April 25 evening. (X Prabowo)

Chairman of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, admitted that he was surprised about the former Minister of Trade, Thomas Trikasih Lembong, who was named a suspect in alleged corruption in sugar importation activities.

Surya Paloh said that the determination was surprising, because the sugar importation activity that made Tom Lembong a suspect occurred almost ten years ago, when Tom served as Minister of Trade for the 2015-2016 period.

"There is no wind, there is no sudden rain (case) Tom Lembong, the policy was wrong to consider... 10 years ago. We were also surprised," said Surya Paloh when met at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Friday, November 1, was confiscated by Antara.

Surya Paloh revealed that as the chairman of the NasDem Party, he considered the atmosphere very concerning for him.

When asked about indications of the criminalization of Tom Lembong, Surya Paloh hoped that there would be no such thing. Even if there was, Tom would only experience bad luck.

"Hopefully there won't be one. If there is health," he said.

Surya Paloh explained that so far his party has not provided legal assistance to Tom Lembong.

On the one hand, he appreciated a number of actual cases, such as the findings of nearly Rp1 trillion in funds found during the raid on the residence of officials.

"Say there was a raid on the findings of a fairly large number of funds of almost Rp. 1 trillion, also the arrests of 2-3 judges who were considered to have contributed to conspiring in passing a case, I think we appreciate that," he said.

However, what surprised him was the determination of Tom Lembong as a suspect. However, he stressed that in this new government, building trust is important.

While not wanting to respond to the connection between the new government and the Tom Lembong case, Surya Paloh asked not to build pessimism by looking for problems in the past.

"We want to encourage all of us. This is our government, we have confidence, it should be. Building confidence is important, not building pessimism," he said.