Syahrul Yasin Limpo (born 16 March 1955) is an Indonesian politician, who served as

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

's Onward Cabinet from October 2019 until the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced his involvement in alleged corruption in September 2023. He was governor of

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...

from 2008 to 2018. He switched political parties in March 2018, leaving

Golkar The Party of Functional Groups (), often known by its abbreviation Golkar, is a Centre politics, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right big tent secular nationalist political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia. Founded in ...

to join Nasdem, led by

Surya Paloh Surya Dharma Paloh (born 16 July 1951) is an Indonesian politician and media mogul. He owns Media Group, a conglomerate company that includes the ''Media Indonesia'' daily newspaper and ''MetroTV,'' a 24-hour news television channel. In politics, ...

Political career

In 2016, Limpo ran for the leadership of the Golkar Party but lost to Setya Novanto. After a 2017 meeting with

Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) (), commonly known as Al-Imam University (IMAMU) (Arabic: إمامو), is a public university in the sub-municipality of Shemal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1950 as an Islamic semin ...

rector Sulaiman ibn Abdullah Abalkhail, Limpo helped facilitate the opening of a Saudi-funded university in South Sulawesi. In 2017, Limpo oversaw a controversial project in the province to create five artificial islands to increase public space at

Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...

. Opposition came from environmental organizations which filed a lawsuit and local fishermen who attempted to physically block the construction, claiming the project would deplete fish stocks. On 2 September 2022, Riezky Aprilia was reported to the Honorary Court of the DPR (MKD) for remarking to the Minister of Agriculture, Limpo, that he was taking the "wrong medicine" during a work meeting. She criticised him and then provided him with an explanation of her remarks, acknowledging that she had just used language rhetorical methods to show her disdain for him.

Controversies

Corruption Eradication Commission announced his involvement in alleged corruption on 29 September 2023. At the time of his announcement, he was on an official trip to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Harvick Hasnul Qolbi, revealed that Limpo separated from the Ministry of Agriculture entourage after learning his status after KPK announced him as a suspect. As revealed by the Directorate General of Immigration, his official trip supposedly ended on 30 September 2023, and he should return on 1 October 2023. Since he had not returned after the trip, he was declared missing. His disappearance was eventually confirmed by

Yasonna Laoly Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly (born 27 May 1953) is the former Minister of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia,Surya Paloh Surya Dharma Paloh (born 16 July 1951) is an Indonesian politician and media mogul. He owns Media Group, a conglomerate company that includes the ''Media Indonesia'' daily newspaper and ''MetroTV,'' a 24-hour news television channel. In politics, ...

, requested him to return immediately and to cooperate with law enforcement. Limpo eventually returned and reported himself to Paloh and expected to report himself to Joko Widodo on 5 October 2023. Nasdem Party confirmed that Limpo resigned from his post as minister on 5 October 2023. Limpo reported himself to

Ministry of the State Secretariat The Ministry of State Secretariat is an Indonesian government ministry responsible for providing technical, administrative, and analytical support to the President and Vice President in the exercise of their state powers. The current minister of ...

on the same day submitted his resignation according to the protocol, ending his tenure as minister. On 6 October 2023, Limpo replaced with Arief Prasetyo Adi, head of the National Food Agency, as acting minister. On 11 July 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in a corruption case, with IDR 300 million in fines and replacement money totaling IDR 14,147,144,786 (IDR 14.1 billion) and US$30,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limpo, Syahrul Yasin Governors of South Sulawesi Hasanuddin University alumni Indonesian Muslims Golkar politicians Nasdem Party politicians Onward Indonesia Cabinet Living people 1955 births People from Makassar Agriculture ministers of Indonesia