TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has appointed Amien Sunaryadi as the chief of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas). Pri Agung Rakhmanto, observer from the Migas Institute, said Amien's appointment is related to President Joko Widodo's promise to eradicate oil and gas mafia. "This is the first step," Pri told Tempo.

Jokowi previously appointed former PT Pindad president director Sudirman Said as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister and University of Indonesia's economist Faisal Basri as the chief of the Oil and Gas Management Reform Team. Both figures are known as anti-corruption activists.

Sudirman said that Amien was appointed because SKK Migas needs a strong figure who can revive the country's energy sovereignty. "SKK Migas needs institutional reform, certainty, simplicity, standardization and transparency," he said on Wednesday, November 19, 2014.

Amien was deputy of the Corruption Eradication Commission for the 2003-2007 period. According to Tempo's records, one of the major cases handled by Amien was the corruption of ballot box procurement in the General Elections Commission (KPU) that resulted in Rp15.7 billion of state losses.

After being inaugurated by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Amien pledged to prioritize the improvement of exploration and exploitation activities and system in upstream oil and gas industry.

ANANDA TERESIA | ALI HIDAYAT | ISTMAN M.P. | MAYA NAWANGWULAN