Said Didu Denies Mentioning Bahlil's Name in Controversial Podcast

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Secretary of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Said Didu, has asserted that he never mentioned the name of Golkar Party Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia in the podcast that has led to a cease-and-desist notice from the Golkar Party's executive board.

"I never mentioned Bahlil's name. That is a misrepresentation of the substance," Said Didu stated when contacted by Kompas.com on Wednesday (11/11/2026).

Said Didu explained that in the podcast, he only conveyed that he did not have information regarding meetings between various parties before the arrests that were under discussion.

He also denied any claims that the meeting had actually occurred.

"In my podcast, I did not state that such a meeting took place. In fact, I said I did not have any information about that meeting," he said.

Said Didu mentioned that he only made general statements regarding individuals close to former Chief of Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

According to him, there was no explicit statement identifying Bahlil as the person in question.

"I only stated that if it did happen, it was someone close to Listyo. As for the party chair, no one can deny who is close to him," he clarified.

For this reason, Said Didu questioned which part of his statement was perceived as mentioning Bahlil's name.

He also opined that the cease-and-desist notice should have been directed at the media that published the journalistic product, rather than at the source.

Said Didu emphasized that he does not wish to provide an official response to Golkar's cease-and-desist notice.

"So I don’t have a position to respond. First, it is a case of wrong address, and second, it is wrong in substance," he revealed.

Golkar's Cease-and-Desist

Previously, the Golkar Party, through the Legal and Human Rights Advocacy Agency (Bakumham), revealed the reasons for issuing an open cease-and-desist notice to Said Didu and Sri Rajasa Chandra.

Spokesperson for the Golkar Bakumham team, Derek Loupatty, explained that Said Didu and Sri Rajasa made statements linking Bahlil to the alleged wiretapping case of the President.

Derek Loupatty stated that there were several narratives that his party questioned in the YouTube content of Modeling Forum Keadilan TV titled "Dr. Said Didu: Did Tito Karnavian, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, and Yusril Ihza Mahendra Meet?"

"Chairman of the Golkar Party, Mr. Bahlil Lahadalia, is aware that there are parties that have made statements or narratives implying that the Chairman of the Major Party was involved in the wiretapping case of the President," Derek said at the Golkar Party office on Tuesday (10/11/2026).

Derek elaborated that there are narratives suggesting that the party chairman participated in meetings with generals involved in the presidential wiretapping case prior to their arrests.

In addition, Golkar questioned narratives alleging that Bahlil resorted to criminalization to secure the position of Golkar Party Chairman.

"There are statements made by Muhammad Said Didu and Sri Rajasa Chandra that seem to guide public opinion to corner, accuse, and attack the honor of our client, both directly and indirectly, where those statements are untrue and unsupported by facts," he stated.