Rizal Ramli

Dr. Rizal Ramli (born December 10, 1954 in Padang, Indonesia, West Sumatra) is an Indonesian politician. He is a prominent Indonesian economist graduated from Boston University with a Ph.D degree in economics in 1990. Ramli served as Coordinating Minister for Economics Affairs (August 2000–July 2001) and Minister of Finance (July 2001) under President Abdurrahman Wahid administration. He was The Chairman of Komite Bangkit Indonesia (Indonesia Awakening Committee) and an independent candidate for President Republic of Indonesia on July 2009 Elections.^[1]

Early Life and Career

Rizal Ramli (RR) and his parents are from Padang, but since six years old he was forced to move to his grandmother's house, Ny. Rahmah, in Bogor (West Java) because his both parents died. Rizal Ramli's father is an assistant district officer. While Mrs. RR is a known teacher in the discipline instilled high morals and intellect. "My mother, Rabiah, died first when I was five years old. The next year my father, Ramli," said RR started the story that brought him to Java.

At the age of 3, Rizal Ramli was already able to read. And for that, he says, is thank full to his mother who taught and guided at all times to learn the letters. "My mother is a teacher, so she taught me for a quick easy read. And for me, to be good in reading is the key to get better."

After graduating from high school, he continued his study in Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) majoring in Physics. ITB is one of the best and favourite University in Indonesia (http://www.itb.ac.id/). He worked as a translator to pay his school fee in ITB He was an activist and the Chairman of ITB Students Council in 1977. Rizal Ramli and 3 of his friends were the authors of the "White Book". In this book, he wrote about many criticism against the system of authoritarian rule in Indonesian government under President Soeharto's regime. The white book also explores the practice of corruption, collusion and nepotism in Indonesian Government, particularly the family of President Suharto. Of course, this book made President Soeharto angry. The books that had been published through the stencil, yet were banned, were difficult to be stopped. Started in the neighborhood around the campus in Java and spread to outside Java. Some print media published these books and later they were banned. But it did not stop there, this little book was then translated into 8 languages by Ben Anderson, a professor from Cornell University, USA. White Book is a courage in criticizing the truth for the first time systematically against President Soeharto's authoritarian regime. Because before this book, nobody was dare enough to fight against and protest Soeharto's government. Rizal Ramli was jailed for 6 months.

After his return from the United States, he founded ECONIT Advisory Group, an independent economic think-tank, with some of his colleagues. In the beginning of President Abdurahman Wahid's administration, he was appointed as the Chairman of Bulog.

When he was still active as the managing director of ECONIT, Rizal Ramli and his team have been very critical on the government policies, particularly that ignored public and national interests, such as: national car policy, urea-tablet fertilizer, Freeport mining, etc.

Role as Chair of Rice Logistics Bureau (Bulog)

Dr Rizal Ramli's career in government started when he was appointed as the Chairman of Bulog (Indonesia's large rice procurement agency) in Gus Dur's Administration in March 2000. He was the chairman of Bulog for less than a year but he was regarded by some as making notable breakthroughs during the period. He introduced steps to improve Bulog's performance. He made efforts to reform Bulog into a more transparent and accountable institution such as transforming off-budget accounts of Bulog to on-budget ones. During Dr Ramli's period with Bulog there were reports of significant cost savings and efficiencies in the operation of the agency. As result, Bulog had a surplus on its account. Dr Ramli simplified and consolidated Bulog's accounts from 117 to only 9 accounts.

Recent activities

Since leaving government, Rizal Ramli has continued to play an active role in public policy discussion in Indonesia. He is frequently critical of the government, often providing media comment and arguing that further reform is needed in various areas in Indonesia.^[2]

References