Bambang Soesatyo


Bambang Soesatyo is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the current Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, and had previously been the speaker of the People's Representative Council. A member of Golkar Party, he was elected into the national legislative body in the 2009 elections. On 15 January 2018, Golkar selected him to replace Setya Novanto, who had resigned as parliament speaker amid a corruption investigation.

Education

Raised in a military family, Bambang attended state schools in Jakarta for 12 years. Upon completing high school in 1981, he enrolled at Jayabaya Accounting Academy in East Jakarta. During his studies, he chaired the academy's Student Senate. Following his graduation in 1985, he completed a pre-MBA course at the Institute for Management Education and Development in Jakarta, then earned a degree in public administration from Indonesia Open University in 1988. He obtained a degree in corporate management from Sekolah Tinggi Ekonomi Indonesia in 1992 after completing his MBA at Newport Management Institute of Indonesia in 1990.
During his studies, he was active in student organizations. One of these, Angkatan Muda Pembaharuan Indonesia, was affiliated with Golkar, which was then the ruling political party of Suharto.

Career

Bambang took a job in a public accountancy office in 1984, but became an editor the following year and a journalist by 1986. He later worked in a financial department doing electronic data processing before returning to publishing, becoming a marketing manager of the Vista magazine until 1992. He also took up a one-year position as a lecturer between 1991 and 1992. After becoming editor-in-chief of Info Bisnis and Suara Karya, he became a director of a timber company and served as a commissioner at several other corporations.

As a politician

After failing to gain a seat four times, Bambang secured a seat in the People's Representative Council following the 2009 elections where he had run in Central Java's 7th electoral district—covering the regencies of Purbalingga, Banjar, and Kebumen. Upon his inauguration, he was assigned to Commission III on law, human rights and security. Later, he was part of a special committee investigating a controversial Rp 6.7 trillion bailout for Bank Century, given during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, which involved finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and later vice president Boediono.
In 2014, Bambang stood for re-election in the election and received 57,235 votes, making him the only candidate from the district affiliated with Golkar. He blamed vote buying as a reason for Golkar's declining votes. By January 2016, internal changes in Golkar resulted in him being assigned as Chairman of Commission III. Bambang was also a member of a special committee for the Corruption Eradication Commission, seen by many observers as an attempt to restrict the anti-graft body's powers.
Bambang called for the sacking of the chairman of the Audit Board of Indonesia in 2016, when the body's investigation into a hospital purchase by the Jakarta Provincial Government was contradicted by the Corruption Eradication Commission which found no violations. In 2017, as part of a committee investigating KPK, he stated that the body exhibited internal friction and insubordination to its leadership.
He called for the expansion of regulations against homosexuality in Indonesia, blaming online social media for the spread of LGBT groups and claiming that 3 percent of the population would be gay without citing his source. Bambang also called for the Indonesian National Police and the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency to prosecute provocateurs and hoax propagators on social media.

Parliament speaker

After being implicated in a $170 million graft scandal, Setya Novanto resigned as Golkar chairman and parliament speaker in late 2017. Golkar's new chairman, Airlangga Hartarto, appointed Bambang as the new parliament speaker and he was sworn in on 15 January 2018. Fellow Golkar parliamentarian Kahar Muzakir replaced him as head of Commission III. While some analysts praised Bambang's appointment based on his seniority and political experience, others cited a possible conflict of interest due to his involvement in the special committee conducting an inquiry into KPK. However, Bambang resigned from the special committee after he was sworn in.
Bambang was later elected as Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Personal life

Bambang is married to Lenny Sri and he has eight children. He collects luxury vehicles including a Tesla Model X, which he reported in 2016 as two Harley-Davidson motorcycles and ten cars, valued at Rp 18 billion, compared to his total reported assets of Rp 62 billion.

Controversy

Bambang has been one of the key witnesses to be questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission in the high-profile investigation of the rigged procurement of the e-ID project worth Rp 5.9 trillion project, thus causing Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses. He is one of the five former and current lawmakers as witnesses in relation to two suspects in the case, namely businessmen Made Oka Masagung and Irvanto Hendra Pambudi – the latter is also the nephew of ex-House of Representatives speaker and graft convict Setya Novanto.
In 2013, Indonesian businessman :id:Muhammad Nazaruddin|Muhammad Nazaruddin upon investigation by Corruption Eradication Commission had named two Golkar Party politicians :id:Aziz Syamsuddin|Aziz Syamsudin and Bambang Soesatyo and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in Commission III of the House of Representatives, who were supposed to be involved in the alleged corruption procurement simulators of two and four-wheeled driving licenses at the Traffic Corps of Police Headquarters of fiscal year 2011. The state has reportedly lost around Rp 100 billion in this Rp 198.7 billion procurement fraud case. Bambang has denied all allegations.
Bambang has been embroiled in a land theft case with the professed victim named Vita Setyan who has filed a criminal complaint against him for illegally grabbing her land in Banjar Tegal Besar in Klungkung Regency, Bali. Bambang owns a villa adjacent to the conflicted piece of land. Bambang to date has refuted all allegations and has pledged to take necessary actions against the plaintiff.