Setya Novanto
Setya Novanto (born 12 November 1955) is a former Indonesian politician, presently serving a 15 year jail sentence for corruption. He was chairman of Golkar Party and speaker of the People's Representative Council (Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) until his arrest in 2017 for corruption. Born in Bandung, he entered politics in 1998 after a business career and became a member of the People's Representative Council following the 1999 general election. After he was re-elected for a third time in the 2014 general election, won by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, he was appointed DPR (Parliament) Speaker by the majority opposition coalition.
Setya Novanto | |
---|---|
16th Speaker of the People's Representative Council | |
In office 30 November 2016 – 11 December 2017 | |
Preceded by | Ade Komarudin |
Succeeded by | Fadli Zon (acting) Bambang Soesatyo |
In office 2 October 2014 – 16 December 2015 | |
President | Joko Widodo |
Preceded by | Marzuki Alie |
Succeeded by | Ade Komarudin |
Leader of Golkar | |
In office 17 May 2016 – 13 December 2017 | |
Preceded by | Aburizal Bakrie |
Succeeded by | Airlangga Hartarto |
Member of People's Representative Council from East Timor and West Timor | |
In office 1 October 1999 – 31 October 2018 | |
President | B.J. Habibie Abdurrahman Wahid Megawati Soekarnoputri Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Joko Widodo |
Personal details | |
Born | Bandung, Indonesia | 12 November 1955
Political party | Golkar |
Spouse | Deisti Astriani |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Trisakti University |
In 1998, Setya became vice-treasurer of Golkar's central organization, and the following year was elected to the People's Representative Council, beginning his political career. However, his political career was plagued by corruption scandals. He resigned as DPR speaker in late 2015 amid an ethics investigation, but the following year, he was appointed chairman of Golkar, switched the party's allegiance to the governing coalition, and was reappointed DPR speaker in November 2016. Despite facing multiple allegations of corruption, he did not face trial until implicated in the embezzlement of funds from a national electronic ID card program. Following his arrest by the Corruption Eradication Commission in November 2017, he resigned as DPR speaker for a second time and was later removed as Golkar chairman. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in April 2018. Since then, he has often left jail, purportedly for medical examinations, although he was once spotted at a shopping center.