Palm Oil Export Corruption Linked To Election Funding, NasDem: Misleading Statement

Deputy General Chairperson (Waketum) of the NasDem Party, Ahmad Ali. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The NasDem Party has also responded to the issue of funding for the postponement of the 2024 General Election which stems from a corruption case in granting crude palm oil (CPO) export permits. Deputy General Chairperson (Waketum) of the NasDem Party, Ahmad Ali, believes that there is no connection between the alleged corruption case in cooking oil and the discourse on postponing the election. According to him, it is too far if the personal corruption of the Director General (Dirjen) and his colleagues at the Ministry of Trade is then linked to the issue of postponing elections.

"Nope. The corruption of cooking oil at the Ministry of Trade is more about individual greed. So it has nothing to do with it," Ali told reporters, Sunday, April 24. Ali assessed that the issue of the alleged link between the cooking oil corruption case and the funding for the discourse on postponing the election that was brought up by a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the PDIP faction, Masinton Pasaribu, was misleading. The member of Commission III of the DPR also encouraged the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to continue to investigate the alleged corruption case of cooking oil involving the Director General of Foreign Trade (Dirjen Daglu) of the Ministry of Trade, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana. This is because he suspects that the Director General of Daglu is not playing alone in this case.

"It's the Attorney General's job, don't stop with me, as Commission III, don't stop at naming four people as suspects. It's impossible then the Director General will talk, take policies without any knowledge above him, or he will stand alone," said Ahmad Ali.

According to him, the AGO has already stepped in so don't hesitate to openly reveal this cooking oil case. "I believe that this does not stand alone, there must be someone behind it," said Ahmad Ali.

Previously, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the PDIP faction, Masinton Pasaribu, asked the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to investigate the alleged connection between the alleged corruption case in granting crude palm oil (CPO) export permits and collecting funds for the issue of delaying the 2024 election.

"Yes, I have information that part of the scarcity of cooking oil and then the price was made expensive to prioritize export because of the need to maintain the issue of postponing the election," said Masinton, quoted on Sunday, April 24.

According to him, this information is an important part of the current investigation by the AGO. So, said Masinton, the investigators need to investigate further. This member of Commission XI of the DPR admitted that he had studied the information. However, he refused to clearly mention the source of information about it.

"The name is information, we have to study it, we have to verify it. But we also can't ignore the information. Moreover, the corruption case in the export of cooking oil has been handled by the Attorney General's Office," Masinton explained.