Less than a Year as PLN's Komut, Former KPK Leader Chandra Hamzah is dismissed

KATADATA - Surprising news comes from PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). The government all of a sudden has dismissed the PLN’s President Commissioner (Komut) Chandra Hamzah, even though it has not been a year yet since he was elected into the position. The dismissal of the former KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) leader is said to be related with Chandra’s existence that hindered the private parties importance in the electricity business. 

The news about the dismissal is first being announced by the Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Minister Sudirman Said in the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, last Tuesday (13/10). In order to appoint someone to cover up the hole, the government has appointed Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the former President’s Work Unit Chief for Development Monitoring and Control (UKP4) in the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the former Mining and Energy Minister in the era of President Soeharto. 

Kuntoro has also been the President Director of PLN in 2000. According to Sudirman, President Joko Widodo has approved the change. “President Jokowi is great because he continues to bring in great people into the government,” Sudirman said to Katadata, Wednesday (14/10). He also sees Kuntoro as the real professional figure and would strengthen the commissioners of the state-owned electricity company. 

But then Sudirman is reluctant to explain in a more detailed way about the change of president commissioner, even though it has not been a year yet. Chandra was appointed as the president commissioner through PLN’s General Meeting of the Shareholders (RUPS) on December 23^rd 2014. “Chandra is given another task that the State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister sees to fit him better,” Sudirman added. 

Chandra Hamzah had also once been appointed as the President Commissioner of PT Bank Tabungan Negara Tbk (BTN) last September 2 in the general meeting of the shareholders. But then at the end of last September, Chandra submitted his resignation letter from the position in BTN to the SOE Minister Rini Soemarno. The reason was because he is still new in becoming PLN’s President Commissioner so that he still wants to focus in completing a number of his works, including the electricity 35 GW megaproject.

In relation to his dismissal as PLN’s President Commissioner, Chandra admitted to have also heard about the rumors. “But I still haven’t received the official letter,” he said when Katadata contacted him via telephone, Wednesday (14/10). 

The news of Chandra Hamzah’s dismissal has actually been on air since last week. The dismissal is said because Chandra hindered the family business importance of the high officials. This suspicion is said by Riska Martina Sitepu from PLN’s Public Relation Department of the Workers Union. “The point is there is a business importance that is disrupted because of Chandra Hamzah’s presence. The dismissal shows whose side the government is on, which is to the business players and not constitution,” Riska said.

According to her, Chandra is very strong in rejecting the plan to let go of the business areas for electricity procurement to the private sectors. He wants all of them to be processed by PLN, since he sees them all as the state’s assets that need to be managed by State-owned firms. That strong determination has a result. On last August 7, according to Riska, PLN’s President Director Sofyan Basir has signed a letter not to let go of the business areas in Kalimantan. 

But then on the other hand, Riska suspected that the entrance of Kuntoro as the new president commissioner is to make the privatization scenario of electricity business procurement in the whole Indonesia to run smooth. Riska also further accuses that right now there is a big scenario to sell state’s assets that PLN is managing, which is related to the debt agreement between Indonesian government and the World Bank during the 1997 – 1998 crisis. 

The agreement has made PLN to conduct regionalization. The government’s excuse is that this regionalization is to accelerate the decision-making process. According to Riska, this is the first step of “selling” the PLN. “In the letter there are 7 regionalization, and now the government is determining 9 regionalization. Kuntoro really knows the stages because he had once been PLN’s President Director in the year of 2000,” Riska added.