Muhammad Prakosa

Muhammad Prakosa (4 March 1960 – 17 January 2023) was an Indonesian bureaucrat, diplomat, and politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). He was Indonesia's minister of agriculture from 1999 to 2000 and forestry from 2001 until 2004. He was then nominated by the PDI-P for a seat in the People's Representative Council and served for three terms from 2009. In 2021, Prakosa was installed as the ambassador to Italy, with concurrent accreditation to Malta, San Marino, Cyprus, FAO, IFAD, UNIDROIT, and WFP. He died on 17 January 2023, while still holding the office of ambassador.

Muhammad Prakosa
Prakosa in 1999
Minister of Forestry
In office
10 August 2001 – 20 October 2004
PresidentMegawati Soekarnoputri
Preceded byMarzuki Usman
Succeeded byMalem Sambat Kaban
Minister of Agriculture
In office
29 October 1999 – 23 August 2000
PresidentAbdurrahman Wahid
Preceded bySoleh Solahudin
Succeeded byBungaran Saragih
Indonesian Ambassador to Italy
In office
18 February 2022 – 17 January 2023
PresidentJoko Widodo
Preceded byEsti Andayani
Member of the People's Representative Council
In office
1 October 2009 – 17 November 2021
Succeeded byHarris Turino
ConstituencyCentral Java IX
Personal details
Born(1960-03-04)4 March 1960
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Died17 January 2023(2023-01-17) (aged 62)
Rome, Italy
Political partyIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
SpouseSri Agustini
Children3
Alma mater

Early life and education

Prakosa was born on 4 March 1960 in Yogyakarta, as the son of a civil servant. Upon his birth, his parents moved to Abepura, a district in Jayapura, the capital of the Irian Jaya province (now Papua). He completed his primary and secondary education in the city in 1971 and 1974, respectively. He then returned to Yogyakarta and studied at the 1st Yogyakarta State High School.[1]

Upon finishing his high school studies in 1977, Prakosa wanted to study civil engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology. However, his parents were unable to buy him a drawing set, and Prakosa was unable to study there. He then chose to study forestry at the Gadjah Mada University. After four years, Prakosa graduated from the university with an undergraduate degree in forestry in 1982. Prakosa pursued further education in forestry during his tenure at the Department of Forestry, obtaining a graduate degree in forest economics from the University of Tennessee in 1989 and a PhD in resources economics and policy from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1994.[1][2]

Career in government

Department of Forestry and FAO

Prakosa started his career in the East Nusa Tenggara forest service, where he led the service's reforestation project. Two years later, in 1984, Prakosa was promoted as the head of the province's forest rehabilitation office. He moved to Jakarta in 1985 to take office as the head of project evaluation and monitoring section in the Department of Forestry.[1] Upon finishing his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Prakosa began to teach forestry at the University of Bengkulu. In 1996, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) appointed him as the deputy representative of FAO in Indonesia. Following the departure of the FAO's representative Datok Jalil in May 1999, Prakosa became the acting representative for several months until October 1999.[1][2]

Minister of Agriculture

Prakosa began his involvement in politics after the fall of Suharto in 1998. He joined the newly established Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle under the leadership of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Megawati became vice-president under president Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999 and appointed Prakosa as agriculture minister. Under his leadership, the government began to scale down the imports of agricultural products and pushed for the integration of the agricultural sector with other sectors of production.[1]

Prakosa oversaw some changes in personnel and structure during his short term as agriculture minister. On 22 December 1999, the directorate general of forestry was put under Prakosa's control for five days, before being returned to the Department of Forestry and Plantations.[3] In May 2000, Prakosa restructured the department's bureaucracy by increasing the number of directorate generals and replacing several top officials.[4]

Prakosa's policy in agriculture was criticized by agriculture observers as being too centralized and indifferent to regional needs. He denied the allegations, stating that decentralization was one of his key priorities in the department. Prakosa was dismissed from the post on 26 August 2000, allegedly for failing to handle food insecurity.[5]

Minister of Forestry

In 2001, Megawati became president after Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached by the parliament. Megawati then appointed Prakosa as the minister of forestry in her new cabinet. At his inauguration, Prakosa pledged no immediate changes in forest policy and to focus on five key priorities in forestry: illegal logging, forest fires, reforestation, decentralization, and restructuring the forestry industry.[6]

Of all the key priorities, Prakosa's department prioritized curbing illegal logging the most.[5] Prakosa's department was involved in the arrest of several key members of a Malaysian illegal logging ring in Papua.[7][8] However, the number of illegal logging began to rise at the end of Prakosa's term in later 2004.[9]

Member of parliament and ambassador

After his ministerial tenure ended, Prakosa became more involved in PDI-P's internal affairs. He became one of the party's chairman from 2005 to 2010 and worked as a researcher in the party's research and development agency.[5] Prakosa was nominated as a member of the People's Representative Council from the Central Java IX electoral district. He won the election held in 2009[10] and was elected for a second and third term in 2014 and 2019, respectively.[11][12]

During his tenure as member of parliament, Prakosa became a member of the ethics council of the People's Representative Council. In 2015, Prakosa sparked controversy amongst PDI-P members in the People's Representative Council after providing a dissenting opinion in the case of Setya Novanto, who was caught extorting shares from Freeport Indonesia. Prakosa received a sanction from Megawati and was removed from the ethics council shortly after the case became public.[13][14][15]

On February 2021, President Joko Widodo nominated Prakosa to be the next Indonesia Ambassador to Italy.[16] Prakosa had previously been offered a similar office during the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in August 2011, but he refused the offer, citing personal reasons.[17] The People's Representative Council approved his nomination and he was sworn into office on 17 November 2021.[18] He also held concurrent credentials to Malta, San Marino, Cyprus, FAO, IFAD, UNIDROIT, and WFP.[19]

Despite being installed in 2021, Prakosa began presenting his credentials around early 2022. He presented his credentials to the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella,[20] and the president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, on 18 February 2022,[21] and to the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization Qu Dongyu on 3 March 2022.[22]

Prakosa died in Rome on the morning of 17 January 2023, at the age of 62.[23]

Personal life

Prakosa was married to Sri Agustini. The couple had two sons and a daughter.[1]

References
  1. Tim Penerbitan Buku 50 Tahun UGM (1999). Apa & Siapa Sejumlah Alumni UGM [Who's Who of Several UGM Alumni] (in Indonesian). Jakarta. pp. 393–396. ISBN 9789798391835.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. "Pejabat Kabinet". National Library of Indonesia. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. Dijk, C. (Kees) van (1 October 2021). A Country in Despair: Indonesia between 1997 and 2000. BRILL. p. 498. ISBN 978-90-04-43487-5.
  4. "Agriculture minister appoints new top officials". The Jakarta Post. 30 May 2000. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. "Muhammad Prakosa". Merdeka. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  6. "No sign of much-needed reform". Down to Earth. February 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. "Malaysian tycoon arrested on illegal logging charges". The Jakarta Post. 22 February 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  8. "Forestry Minister Suspects Malaysia Involved in Illegal Logging". Tempo. 28 August 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. "Illegal Logging Kembali Mencuat di AFP". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  10. "Anggota Terpilih Pemilu DPR 2009 Jawa Tengah". pemilu.asia. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  11. "Potret Keterpilihan Anggota Legislatif Hasil Pemilu 2014" (PDF). kemenpppa.go.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  12. "Hasil Pemilu 2019". kpu.go.id (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  13. "Megawati akan Tindak Anggota MKD Prakosa karena Membangkang". Republika Online (in Indonesian). 24 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  14. Media, Kompas Cyber (16 December 2015). "PDI-P Pecah di Sidang MKD, Prakosa Minta Bentuk Panel bersama Golkar dkk". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  15. Ritonga, Efri NP (10 March 2013). "Prakosa Tak Tahu Mengapa Dicopot dari Ketua BK DPR". Tempo. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  16. Siran, Prasetyo (19 February 2021). "DPR Terima Surat 31 Calon Dubes RI dari Jokowi, Ada Nama Terawan dan Prakosa". realitarakyat.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  17. Hadi, Mahardika Satria (22 August 2011). "Politikus PDIP Ditawari Jadi Dubes Italia". Tempo. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. Ramadhan, Ardhito (17 November 2021). "Profil Dubes M Prakosa, Eks Menhut Era Megawati yang Pernah Tolak Tawaran SBY". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  19. antaranews.com. "Indonesian Ambassador presents letter of credence to FAO DG". Antara News. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  20. antaranews.com (21 February 2022). "Dubes RI serahkan surat kepercayaan kepada Presiden Italia". Antara News. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  21. Protocol Department Diplomatic List: May 2022. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. May 2022. p. 72.
  22. Mahayana, Mellani Eka (7 March 2022). "Dubes RI Serahkan Surat Kepercayaan Kepada Dirjen FAO Di Roma". Rakyat Merdeka (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  23. Sari, Amelia Rahima (17 January 2023). "Mantan Menhut dan Mentan Muhammad Prakosa Meninggal, Begini Rekam Jejaknya". Tempo. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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