It’s not until early 1980s, or almost 15 years after their father took power, that Soeharto’s children were involved in business. Bambang Trihatmodjo, for instance, established PT Bimantara Citra in 1981 while Tommy Soeharto found Humpuss Group in 1984. Around the same time, Sigit Harjojudanto’s Arseto Group began to increase its presence in business sector while Tutut Soeharto established her business group, Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada.
If they were not Soeharto’s children they would have been below average people or at best, a mediocre, let alone savvy businesspeople or entrepreneurs. But they are Soeharto’s children with almost unlimited power. With all privileges, threats and fear they inflicted to everybody all of their businesses were ballooning to worth trillions of rupiahs in just few years after they began.
Meanwhile, there were others who saw these children’s involvement in business as a big opportunity. These business players took advantage by supporting whatever action these children wanted to take while praising appeasing them in every turn, and mediating and helping achieve whatever made them happy. These people were also becoming very rich in the process, getting huge profits by croniying these children.
Despite the huge Malari demonstration on January 15, 1974, Soeharto was still being seen as Indonesia’s biggest hope in the 1970s, and it was just the beginning of the era, with only few number of businesspeople already getting state facilities and privileges more than others. While Soeharto did benefit from the relations with his cronies, it was his children’s businesses – and their cronies — that have been stamping his legacy as the most corrupt regime in Indonesia’s history. It’s also the acts of his children that become one of the main causes for Soeharto’s demise in 1998.
Almost 40 years later such a scenario is being repeated albeit with a smaller scale.
Just a year into Jokowi’s reign, his sons — Gibran Rakabuming and Kaesang Pangarep – had already been in the business. Starting small in a culinary business, such as catering for the Solo riches, as well as producing and selling snacks, such as traditional pancake called Markobar and fried banana called Sang Pisang, they soon found out that it will take years and huge patience to get big enough with such street food and snack businesses.
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As Jokowi got reelected in 2019, his two sons were now really aware their status and what was meant to be members of the country’s first family when they met with players who are willing to team up with them, and taught them some tricks to get bigger quickly, providing them with funds they needed to expand.
Through these friendship, they then expanded their culinary businesses by establishing restaurant Goola and Mangkok Ku. But then they know it would not be enough because it would take time for such a business to really take off — not enough time as their father would end his presidency in 2024.
All of a sudden, seemingly wanting to get bigger faster they expanded their business into a much more capital-intensive sectors such as buying the share in a football club as well as invest or take over other businesses. Meanwhile, news or stories about their culinary businesses, such as Markobar or Sang Pisang, are fading out although they could always use these businesses to show people how and from where they get their fortune, and that they were not new, having been started doing businesses way back.
What spark attention and suspicion from the public was when their company, PT Harapan Bangsa Kita or GK Hebat, bought 8 percent of shares, worth some IDR 92 billion (US6.5 million), of PT Panca Mitra Multiperdana (PMMP), a shrimp-based frozen food processing company, last year.
While many have questioned where Gibran and Kaesang got the money, it was not until Ubedilah Badrun, a lecturer from the Jakarta State University (UNJ), filed a report against both of them with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that the nature of their businesses becomes a national headline.
Ubedilah alleges that people providing capital for the two Jokowi’s sons have taken advantage of these business relations, leading to crimes of corruption, collusion and nepotism. Ubedilah, for instance, specifically pointed out that Sinar Mas Group, the country’s biggest plantation company, has benefitted from their business partnership with Jokowi’s sons.
Anthony Pradiptya, the son of Gandi Sulistiyanto who was one of directors at Sinar Mas Group, has formed a business collaboration with Gibran and Kaesang, resulting in the establishment of PT Wadah Masa Depan, which becomes a main shareholder of PT Harapan Bangsa Kita or GK Hebat, which later bought the IDR 92 billion shares of PMMP.
Ubedilah said that before the partnership, Sinar Mas Group was sued to pay IDR 7.9 trillion by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to compensate for the alleged forest fire they caused in South Sumatra. But a court trial taking place after Anthony’s partnership with Gibran and Kaesang only required Sinar Mas Group to pay IDR 78 billion.
In a move to show Jokowi’s close relations with Sinar Mas Group, Gandi Sulistyanto was appointed as Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea, one of the country’s most important partners.
Anthony and Sinar Mas Group is only one of big businesses forming relations with Gibran and Kaesang. Others include Arif Patrick Rachmat and Christian Arianto Rachmat, the sons of mogul T.P. Rahmat, owner of Triputra Group.
So, what’s the difference between Soeharto’s family with Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s children?
They are basically the same. The difference is really just the magnitude and duration of the businesses. But if given the same amount of time Jokowi’s sons are on the track to catch up with Soeharto’s children.
However, different from Soeharto’s authoritarian regime, Jokowi presides a democracy where transparency and public participation are key, and sooner than later every inappropriate and criminal acts will have to be accounted for.
In this regard, we remind Jokowi to take a lesson from what happened to Soeharto and the fate of his family after he was toppled from power. The fact that even when Jokowi is still in power there are already people who dare to legally challenge his sons indicates the fate of his family after he leaves office in 2024. More and more people will come out to question and file a report against him and his sons.
Jokowi repeatedly reiterates that he never gives privilege to his sons, and that his sons are just like any other young people who are doing business, and even feel proud that his sons could be successful. But this is naïve and irresponsible. He should have known better that no banks or capital owners want to get close to his sons if he is not a president, governor or mayor.
Ubedilah’s KPK report must be seen by Jokowi as a warning before it’s too late to avoid having the same demise Soeharto has experienced. And for that, he should be really thankful.
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