Jakarta, September 30, 2025
The corruption cases and losses affecting many state-owned enterprises should have been a warning to the government to immediately improve their governance. However, what has happened is that the practice of dual positions and the dominance of political interests in the appointment of commissioners at these state-owned companies are becoming increasingly widespread. According to Transparency International Indonesia (TI Indonesia), as of September 30, 2025, there were 33 deputy ministers holding concurrent positions as deputy ministers and SOE commissioners. This does not include the Minister of Investment and Downstreaming/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) who also holds a position at BP Danantara and the Chief of Presidential Staff who is also a commissioner at PT Pertamina Hulu Energi. The Constitutional Court’s ruling No. 128/PUU-XXIII/2025, issued on August 28, 2025, has not been enough to sway the government to at least reduce the practice of dual positions.
TI Indonesia conducted further research to examine the composition of SOE commissioners, which are suspected of being used as a haven for politicians and political volunteers. TI Indonesia refers to these as politically exposed persons (PEPs) in several categories: bureaucrats, politicians, professionals, academics, mass organizations, law enforcement officers, the military, and former state officials. Politicians, public officials, and individuals with close ties to these groups are considered significant corruption risks for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This research was conducted on 119 companies, consisting of 59 parent SOEs and 60 subsidiaries, listed in the 2023 SOE Combined Financial Report published by the Ministry of SOEs.
Commissioners with bureaucratic and political backgrounds are very dominant in state-owned enterprises (60%). When looking at the distribution based on the parent company (holding) and its subsidiaries, the composition of bureaucrats and politicians is very dominant in state-owned enterprise holding companies, with a composition of 37.8% (bureaucrats) and 31.3% (politicians). Meanwhile, in state-owned enterprise subsidiaries, when combined, the percentage of bureaucrats and politicians reaches 51.9%, far exceeding the percentage of commissioners with professional backgrounds at 32.1%.