Depok, August 16th 2023. Today, Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated two Professors from the Faculty of Law (FH), namely Prof. Kurnia Toha, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D., and Prof. Dr. Yetty Komalasari Dewi, S.H., M.L.I. The inauguration ceremony was led by the Chairman of the Board of Professors (DGB) Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, S.H., M.A., Ph.D., on Wednesday (16/8) at the Djokosoetono Auditorium FH UI and also attended by the Chairperson of the Indonesian Competition Commission (ICC/KPPU) Prof. Dr. Afif Hasbullah, S.H., M.Hum .; Commissioner of PT Bukit Enim Energi Ir. Ellyus Achiruddin M.M.; President Commissioner of PT Garuda Indonesia Timur Sukirno; Chairman of the Professional Society of Southern Sumatra Mahatma Gandhi; and several Law Faculty Professors from domestic and foreign universities.
In Prof. Kurnia Toha’s inaugural speech entitled “Moderation of Capitalism in the Business Competition and Community Welfare Law”, he said that business competition will encourage business actors to do two things, namely business efficiency, and development of technology and innovation in order to create higher quality goods/services and better customer service for consumers. Thus, consumers will get higher quality goods, excellent service at lower prices, which in turn will improve people’s welfare.
“On the other hand, competition will also create several superior or competitive business actors, which will create market concentration, oligopoly and even monopoly. Monopolies and market domination alone are logical consequences and machines that encourage business actors to be more advanced and become world-class companies. If this happens, then it should be something that all business actors and the government will be happy about,” he said.
Furthermore, Prof. Kurnia Toha stated that the creation of super-large world-class companies has resulted in a widening social gap between the rich and the poor. “This phenomenon has spawned opposition from the Neo-Brandist Group in the United States (US), which has recently received support from the Government of President Trump and President Joe Biden. Supporters of this view are also called populist views which state that monopoly is evil. Monopoly and market concentration not only damage the economic sector, but destroy democracy. Monopolies and oligarchies rule more than a government elected by the people. They are of the opinion that business competition law enforcers must have anti-big thinking and be more aggressive,” said the Head of the FH UI Doctoral Program.
According to him, the growing concern in the US could be appropriate because competition has indeed created super-large companies and wide social gaps. Companies not only dominate the US economy, but excel in the world. This can be seen from the Fortune Top Global 500 has always been dominated by US companies, then in recent years Chinese companies have been able to enter the ranks of these large companies.
It’s different in Indonesia, where the only company that entered the Fortune Top Global 500 was PT Pertamina. The concern that is happening in the US is unnecessary and making competition law enforcement prevent the influence of monopolies and oligarchs on the government is inappropriate. “Democracy is the liberalization of the political field, therefore it must be resolved through constitutional law mechanisms, and other laws and even criminal law, for example if there is a bribe or contribution to a party or candidate that exceeds the applicable provisions,” said Prof. Kurnia Toha who has served as Chair of the ICC?KPPU for the 2018-2023 leadership period.
He added that reducing the income gap between the rich and the poor requires various government policies and law enforcement, not only business competition law, and must coincide with enforcement of other related laws. At present, the government has made many arrangements and has various programs to improve people’s welfare, such as partnership programs, lending at lower interest rates, CSR programs, training programs, and so on.
Prof. Kurnia Toha graduated with a Bachelor of Law from UI in 1987; then in 1998, he earned his Master of Law degree from the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA, USA; and earned his Ph.D. degree at the same university in 2007. Several scientific publications have been published, including the (team) book entitled Two Decades of Law Enforcement of Competition, Debates, and What Has Not Been Resolved (2021); (individual) article Jugging With Circumstantial Evidence: A Controvercy in the Enforcement of Indonesia’s Competition Law, International Journal Of Innovation, Creativity and Change (2020); article (team) Legal Policy Granting Status of Fresh Start to Individual Bankrupt Debtor in Developing of Bankrupty Law in Indonesia, Academic Journal of Interdiciplinary Studies (2020); book (team) Competition Policy and Law in Indonesia, Proceedings on AEC And Competition Laws: Opportunities and Challenges (2013); and book (alone) The Struggle Over Land Rights (2008).
