Director General Of The Ministry Of Trade Becomes Suspect In Cooking Oil Case, Fadli Zon: Minister Should Resign, No Need To Wait For Reshuffle

Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi (Photo via ministry website)

JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives' Gerindra faction, Fadli Zon, urged the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to open the fried oil mafia chain at the Ministry of Trade. After the appointment of the Director General of Perdaglu at the Ministry of Trade, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana (IWW) as a suspect in the cooking oil shortage case. "We appreciate the steps taken by the attorney general and it is better to open the chain, this cooking oil mafia chain," said Fadli Zon at the Parliament Complex, Thursday, April 21. Moreover, continued Fadli, the Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi, once boasted that he would announce the cooking oil mafia. It turned out that even his own men were the suspects. "Because the minister himself mentioned that, yes. The relevant parties were also investigated, whether it reached the director general or I don't know if the minister was also involved," said Fadli. With this case in mind, according to Fadli, morally, M Lutfi should resign from the position of the Minister of Trade as a step in the responsibility of the ministry leadership.

"You should be morally responsible. The Minister of Trade should be responsible, there's a director general who has been hit," he said. "If you're abroad, you've already resigned, but we don't have a term like that here, you know," quipped Fadli.

Even Fadli said, the resignation did not need to wait for a cabinet reshuffle. However, regarding the insistence on his dismissal as a minister, Fadli assessed that it was President Jokowi's authority.

"I think that's an assessment from the president. If there are presidential assistants who are considered incompetent in their fields and are disturbing, they are actually harming the president himself. So the president should look for someone who is more suitable, who is more professional, who can handle this," said Fadli. . "This is just cooking oil, not to mention other commodities. There is more soybeans, it can be sugar, it can be other things, so I think it will be detrimental to the president himself if it is maintained," concluded the Gerindra deputy.