Sued To PTUN Regarding Cooking Oil, Trade Minister Lutfi: This Is A Democratic Process, I Will Face It According To The Applicable Law

Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Lutfi said he was ready to face a lawsuit filed by Sawit Watch and a number of community organizations to the State Administrative Court (PTUN) regarding the scarcity and increase in cooking oil.

According to Lutfi, the lawsuit filed against him and President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is a democratic process. He claimed to be responsible and will deal with it in accordance with applicable law in Indonesia.

"Of course, I as the Indonesian people feel that I must be responsible, so we will face it in the Administrative Court. And we will face it according to the law," he told reporters, quoted on Wednesday, June 8.

For your information, previously a number of environmental organizations including Sawit Watch filed a lawsuit against President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi regarding the scarcity and increase in cooking oil last Thursday.

Deputy Director of Sawit Watch Achmad Surambo explained that the lawsuit was a follow-up to the administrative objection that his party had previously filed on April 22 to the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi.

The lawsuit mentions the failure of Jokowi and Trade Minister Lutfi to maintain cooking oil prices and the scarcity of cooking oil. Sawit Watch believes that this is against the general rules and principles of good government (AUPB).

Achmad also said that the policy of banning the export of crude palm oil or CPO as of April 28, following the administrative objections filed by Sawit Watch, did not significantly address the cooking oil problem in the country. This is because the export ban has actually caused many farmers to suffer losses.

However, currently the ban on exports of crude palm oil or CPO has been officially lifted by President Jokowi. This policy is effective from 23 May 2022. To maintain the supply of cooking oil and domestic prices, the government has again implemented the domestic market obligation (DMO) and domestic price obligation (DPO) policies.