TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Budi Arie Setiadi, Minister of Communication and Chairman of Projo’s Central Executive Board speaks of Jokowi’s choice for the presidential candidate and the priorities of his ministry.
President Joko Widodo appointed Budi Arie Setiadi as Minister of Communication and Informatics on July 17, after Johnny Gerard Plate was named as a suspect in the alleged corruption in the procurement of Internet towers or base transceiver stations (BTS) worth more than Rp28 trillion (around US$1.8 billion). Budi Arie is Chairman of the Central Executive Board (DPP) of Projo, a volunteer group that supported Jokowi in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Given this background, the public sees Budi Arie’s appointment as a ‘present’ from Jokowi that also serves as the President’s step towards consolidation for the 2024 elections. On Saturday, October 14, Projo declared its political support for Prabowo Subianto, a presidential candidate from Gerindra. “We follow Pak Jokowi’s orders,” Budi Arie told Tempo reporters Abdul Manan, Francisca Christy Rosana, and Moh. Khory Alfarizi.
During two interviews on August 8 and October 19, Budi Arie explained Projo’s political stance and his promise to stay neutral as a minister during the 2024 presidential elections. He also spoke about the BTS project completion, how to deal with online gambling and the draft of a Presidential Regulation on digital platform companies’ responsibility in supporting quality journalism.
Why were you appointed as Minister of Communication?
For that, you have to ask the person who appointed me. If people underestimate and look down on me, it’s good. It’s better to work when people underestimate you. People also underestimated the President in 2014 as he had only served as a mayor and a governor. As it turned out, he is capable. The result would never betray the process. Time will tell.
Is it to secure the President’s political agenda?
I don’t have my own mission. All I do is carry out and manifest the President’s vision and mission. We stand in line behind Pak Jokowi. Our eyes are on him only.
For the 2024 Elections, what message did Jokowi give to Projo?
We can see that Pak Jokowi gives his support to Pak Prabowo even though he never says it openly. Other than that, Pak Jokowi never forbade or reprimanded us for providing support to Pak Prabowo.
As a minister, you might get tangled in conflicts of interest because you are the chairman of Projo.
As a minister, my position has to be neutral. This means that I will not use my power to support one particular candidate. The same should go for other ministers and other law enforcement agencies originating from political parties that are also supporters of certain presidential candidates. The potential for abuse of power is inherent in all public officials who are authorized to make decisions. That’s why there are legal and regulatory mechanisms to monitor and limit the use of authority of a public official. As an individual, however, I have my own political preferences and choices, just like any other public official or minister. It is here that the functions of law, rules, ethics, and public oversight become important to prevent abuse of authority.
For you, how will you do that?
All state civil servants at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have signed a pact to remain neutral in the upcoming elections, in accordance with the direction issued by the President. We are committed to maintaining an honest, fair, neutral, and peaceful election.
What is your focus within a year of being a minister?
The President’s directive was to complete the BTS project and (address) online gambling.
Why has online gambling suddenly become the government’s concern?
It’s Pak Jokowi’s concern. Because it harms society. Let’s not call it online gambling. Take slot machines for example. The ones who play are people with low incomes. In a day, a player can spend Rp30,000 (US$1.89). That’s Rp900,000 (US$57) in one month.
How big is the turnover in slot gambling?
Domino Island can earn up to US$150 million in a month. According to government estimates, the value of online gambling transactions is between Rp160 trillion (US$10 billion) and Rp350 trillion (US$22 billion). The Communication Ministry has cut off access to 237,096 online gambling contents from Internet Protocol sites and addresses, 17,235 contents from document sharing sites, and 171,175 contents from social media. From July 17 to October 16, the Ministry has also asked the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to freeze 2,760 accounts linked to online gambling.
It’s not for political funding?
No politics. This is about small people being disadvantaged.
How do you plan on completing the BTS project?
The President has said that we should have 5,000 BTS towers this year. About having around 500 in Papua, we will look for another solution. There has to be Internet access for the community. If Papua is so big, why build a BTS tower? We have to be creative in finding a solution. It can’t be the same. We can use satellites.
Is it not possible to build BTS towers in Papua?
We are currently reviewing it technically. But the technical team said that it would be better if we used a satellite for Papua. It’s definitely cheaper. If we build BTS towers, we will need soldiers. Once it is built and the soldiers leave, the BTS towers can be damaged. It’s better to just use satellites.
Where will the fund come from? Since many have been embezzled.
Bakti (Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency) has disbursed Rp7.9 trillion (US$498 million).
What about the problematic contractors in this project?
Later we will review their contract with help from the Deputy Attorney General for Civil and State Administrative Affairs. I have met with the Attorney General. So there will be legal assistance. The important thing is to build first. I don’t want to know about the law, the price, the markup. I don’t care. That’s a matter for the law enforcement officials. My responsibility is to have 5,000 BTS towers running.
How will you prevent corruption in completing this BTS project?
By changing the business model. The planning must be prim. It needs to have a joint plan with the mobile operator. The business model must be right. The business processes and governance must also be correct.
There is another issue: personal data leaks on the Internet are rife. Does the state have a mechanism to protect personal data?
Many nations are having very serious discussions about personal data. I have been told and I have read that European countries are restricting artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics, etc. Although this technological progress is being responded to dynamically. When it comes to data from biometrics, such as facial recognition, it must belong to the state. Not business. If we talk about personal data, who collects them?
Read the Full Interview in Tempo English Magazine
