Bambang Kesowo is a retired bureaucrat and politician. He is known for being a few of Indonesian state bureaucrats to have risen from a lowest rank (Analyst) to the Minister of a ministry in continuous way and not a political party member to reaching his way to Ministership.

Early life and education

Bambang was graduated from Faculty of Law,

Gadjah Mada University Gadjah Mada University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦓꦗꦃꦩꦢ; id, Universitas Gadjah Mada, abbreviated as UGM) is a Public university, public research university located in Sleman Regency, Sleman, Yogyakarta (special region) ...

in 1968. During his time as Gadjah Mada student, he was active in Indonesian National Student Movement (Indonesian: ''Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia'') a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

- marhaenist student organization. He later took Master of Law specializing in Laws in Intellectual Property Rights from Harvard Law School (graduated in 1983).

Careers

After graduated from Gadjah Mada, he become an Analyst at Bureau of Analyst and Formulation of Law at State Secretariat in 1968. He later risen to the rank of Deputy Assistant of Law, Assistant to the State Secretariat in Governmental Affairs (1973), Deputy Assistant of General Affairs, Assistant to the State Secretariat in Governmental Affairs (1976), Deputy Assistant of General Affairs, Assistant to the State Secretariat in Governmental Affairs and Non-Department Agencies (1979), Head of State Secretariat, Bureau of Legal Affairs and Formulation of Law (1983 - 1994), Vice Cabinet Secretary (1994 - 1999), Secretary of Vice President (1999 - 2001), and finally Minister of State Secretary (2001 - 2004). His mastery in intellectual property rights made him as high-level negotiators and representative from Indonesia government with various International Organizations such as WIPO and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, during his time in State Secretariat.

Political Relation

He supported Megawati Soekarnoputri, despite hailed from high rank officials of

Suharto Administration The New Order ( id, Orde Baru, abbreviated ''Orba'') is the term coined by the second Indonesian President Suharto to characterise his administration as he came to power in 1966 until his resignation in 1998. Suharto used this term to contra ...

and Suharto Administration stance against her. He is pro democracy. He also left legacy to democracy in Indonesia by drafting Government in Lieu of Law No. 2/1998 which ensure

Freedom of Speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

in Public.

Post-Ministerial Careers

After no longer become minister, he retired. His expert opinion was crucial for advising People's Representative Council in making of

Omnibus Law on Job Creation The Job Creation Act ( id, UU Cipta Kerja), officially Law Number 11/2020 on Job Creation (''Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2020 Tentang Cipta Kerja'', or UU 11/2020), is a bill that was passed on 5 October 2020 by Indonesia's People's Represent ...

. He supported

National Research and Innovation Agency The National Research and Innovation Agency ( id, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, BRIN) is a cabinet-level government agency formed by the Indonesian government in 2019. Originally a new agency attached to the Ministry of Research and Technolo ...

(BRIN) formation. On 13 October 2021, he appointed as Member of BRIN Steering Committee by

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...

, recalled him from his long retirement to government work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kesowo, Bambang Living people 1945 births Indonesian politicians Gadjah Mada University alumni Harvard Law School alumni