Noel’s arrest: All that is wrong with Indonesian politics

“Wanted! A stellar minister who’s ready to be sentenced to death if they commit corruption,” exclaimed Immanuel “Noel” Ebenezer, then-leader of the Jokowi Mania (JoMan) volunteer group loyal to former president Joko Widodo, in 2020.

Five years and a series of promotions later, Noel, while serving as deputy manpower minister in President Prabowo Subianto's cabinet, was apprehended in a sting operation by the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) along with 10 other individuals. The KPK said on Aug. 22 the arrests were made as part of a graft scheme in which the ministry levied illegal fees on companies and workers through its mandatory occupational safety and health (OSH) certificates.

The scheme exploited the compulsory nature of the OSH certificates, which are issued directly by the Manpower Ministry and require a three-year renewal. These certificates are granted to workers or companies who have passed a due diligence check for workplace safety. The process for obtaining a certificate is already lengthy, requiring applicants to undergo an OSH training session, submit supporting documents, and pass a competency exam created by the ministry. After passing, the ministry is supposed to evaluate the applicant and issue the certificate within one to three months.

The red tape typically lies within this waiting period. The unwritten rule: why make things easy and fast when you can make them slow and profitable? Officially, certificates are only supposed to cost Rp 275,000 (US$16.75). In practice, however, the extortion scheme jacked up the price as high as Rp 6 million. Under this scheme, if applicants were unwilling to pay the inflated fee, their licenses would be stalled, delayed, or not processed at all.

The graft scheme was reported to have been ongoing since the previous administration, dating back to 2019. When Noel took the helm as second-in-command, he allowed the scheme to continue under his watch while also profiting from it. The KPK noted that a total of Rp 81 billion was grifted through this scheme, with Rp 3 billion pocketed by the deputy minister himself. The KPK has since confiscated Noel’s possessions, including a lump of cash, several luxury cars, and a blue Ducati motorcycle.

The Manpower Ministry seems unable to avoid bad press. Only a few months ago, the KPK unraveled a nearly identical extortion scheme within the ministry, where officials were skimming expatriates by applying additional "bureaucratic fees" for work permits. The graft body claimed that this practice was not a one-off occurrence but had persisted through three different administrations, dating as far back as 2012.

Both graft cases highlight a systemic issue that defines the country’s bureaucratic culture. Government officials view power as a means to control and manipulate the system to their advantage. Reforms and good governance are seen as tedious and risky, with no guarantee of success and the laden risk of being ousted from a position of power. This culture is one that turns a so-called anti-corruption activist into a man now begging the president for legal clemency for the very act he once condemned.

Noel’s arrest may prove fatal to President Prabowo’s corruption crackdown pledge, given that this graft scandal surfaced just 10 months into his administration. This is compounded by the deputy minister’s political allegiance to Prabowo’s Gerindra Party. Prabowo fired Noel from the cabinet immediately after the arrest.

At the same time, observers claim that Noel’s loyalty also belongs to former president Jokowi. Noel’s political rise has largely been attributed to his connection to the former head of state, as he followed Jokowi's lead in supporting Prabowo in the 2024 presidential election.

The KPK’s willingness to go after a cabinet member shows a glimmer of hope that the institution is attempting to revive its credibility. The KPK was infamously stripped of its independence under the Jokowi administration, and so far, under Prabowo's watch, the graft body has remained selective in targeting high-profile individuals with strong political implications.

Regardless of whether Noel belongs to either Prabowo’s or Jokowi’s camp, it is in the public's best interest for the KPK to continue tackling systemic corruption regardless of partisan lines. The current graft scheme, as well as many others, has existed long before Prabowo came to power.