When Erick Thohir Kept His Input From Mahfud A Secret About Radicalism In BUMN

BUMN Minister Erick Thohir after meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs discussing radicalism (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir visited the office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD. His visit was to discuss the issue of radicalism in the realm of the ministry he leads.

From this meeting he got a lot of input from Mahfud MD. It's just that, he won't tell the public.

"He also provided input regarding the radicalization that exists in BUMN. ... (the result) yes I can't say it," Erick told reporters at the Kemenkopolhukam Office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Thursday, December 5.

To be sure, Erick will immediately carry out Mahfud's suggestion. "For the Coordinating Minister, our orders must (carry out)," he said, adding that there should not be an ideology of radicalism embraced by his subordinates in the BUMN Ministry.

"Maybe they just got input that is not true, this must be explained (straightened)," he said.

Regarding the case of radicalism among high-ranking BUMN officials, some time ago, BTN's Director of Consumer and Commercial Hirwandi Gafar, was suspected of adhering to radicalism. This suspicion emerged after Hirwandi uploaded a post via his Twitter account supporting the seven million status movement.

"Movement of 7 million status. We trust the Ulama and support their struggle. Don't share it but copy it, so that it will penetrate 7 million. VIRALKAN !!! # Movement7jutastatus," Hirwandi wrote on his social media account on May 23, 2017.

Apart from the post, there was also a photo of Habib Rizieq with the words 'We Trust the Ulama, Habib Rizieq and Support His Struggle'.

This viral post has sparked speculation that the Ministry of BUMN has been infiltrated by other ideologies. This was immediately responded to by the Staff of the Minister of BUMN for Communication, Arya Sinulingga. Arya denied the issue and said the BUMN Ministry was not left behind because of the issue.

"There were no cheats, we didn't miss," said Arya at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, December 2.

Arya said the SOE Ministry had processed this report. After being examined, Hirwandi confirmed that he still adhered to Pancasila.

"What is certain is that we have seen this matter. We think it is still in the corridor of Pancasila. What is the follow-up process to the OJK (Financial Services Authority)," he concluded.