MKD DPR RI Will Call Rieke Diah Pitaloka Regarding The Statement Of Rejecting The 12 Percent VAT Increase

Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rieke Diah Pitaloka. ( BETWEEN/HO-Humas DPR RI)

JAKARTA - The House of Representatives' Honorary Court (MKD) plans to summon Rieke Diah Pitaloka, a member of Commission VI of the DPR, regarding alleged violations of the code of ethics. This was triggered by his statement on social media which was deemed to incite the public to reject the policy of increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) to 12 percent.

The chairman of the MKD DPR RI, Nazarudin Dek Gam, confirmed that the MKD trial which was originally scheduled to be held on Monday was canceled and will be rescheduled. "Yes, the trial is canceled. The trial will be held after the recess period ends," Nazarudin said in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by ANTARA.

During the First Session of the 2024-2025 Session Year, members of the Indonesian House of Representatives are entering a recess period, which starts on December 6, 2024 and ends on January 20, 2025. Therefore, the trial for summoning Rieke Diah Pitaloka will be held after the recess period.

Rieke Diah Pitaloka was previously complained by Alfadjri Aditia Prayoga on December 20, 2024. In the complaint letter, Alfadjri considered that Rieke's statement on social media inviting the public to reject the policy of increasing VAT of 12 percent had the potential to violate the code of ethics.

After verifying, the MKD of the DPR RI decided to summon Rieke Diah Pitaloka at the MKD trial which is planned to be held on Monday at 11.00 WIB at the Nusantara I Building of the DPR RI, Senayan, Jakarta. This summons is in accordance with Article 23 and Article 24 of the DPR RI Regulation Number 2 of 2015 concerning the Procedure for the Honorary Court of the DPR RI Council.

At the DPR Plenary Meeting on December 5, 2024, Rieke Diah Pitaloka conveyed an interruption asking for the cancellation of the VAT increase plan to 12 percent by 2025. In its interruption, Rieke recommended that President Prabowo postpone or cancel the policy, referring to the mandate of Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning Harmonization of Tax Regulations.

Rieke also suggested that the government adopt an independent assessment monitoring system (self-assessment monitoring system) in tax management. He emphasized that the decision to increase VAT must take into account the economic conditions and prices of basic goods that continue to grow.

In addition, the interruption video rejecting the 12 percent VAT increase policy was uploaded to his personal Instagram social media account @riekediahp, with the hashtags #ViralForJustice and #TolakKenaikanPPN22%. However, the DPR RI MKD did not specify the content reported regarding the rejection of the VAT.