Ruhut Sitompul
| Ruhut Sitompul | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
March 24, 1954 Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Alma mater | Padjadjaran University |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician, actor |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Rudhiantiana Legawati [1] |
| Children | Christian Husein Sitompul [1] |
| Parent(s) |
Humala Sitompul Surtani Panggabean |
Ruhut Sitompul (born 24 March 1954), is a lawyer, politician, and actor. His name was nationally known for portraying "Poltak" in Gerhana, a local soap opera. Ruhut once served as the leader of Partai Demokrat (Democratic Party).
Biography
Ruhut is the second of four siblings from his parents Humala Sitompul and Surtani Panggabean. He completed his academic education at the Faculty of Law, Padjadjaran University, Bandung in 1979. He is included into the figure of lawyers who mostly handle controversial cases.
However, Ruhut later had his name to become nationally known since he portrait a character who claimed to be a king of oil from Tarutung, Poltak, in a soap opera called Gerhana. His role in Gerhana was unintentional, just as when he read the script, StarVision liked it. Ruhut had been a lawyer for StarVision that time. Originally, he was assigned to only appear until episode 13, but the appearances of Ruhut as Poltak were loved by the audiences, that made him appeared in the next episodes for decades.
Ruhut was starred Anak Ibuku, Taman Mertua Indah, and James Bono. Other than that, Ruhut also occasionally appeared as a guest star on many programmes of Ngelaba Humor, Asep Show, and Ketoprak Humor.
Controversies
Love affair scandal
On February 1, 2008, some media reported that Ruhut had a relationship with a woman named Diana Leovita.
Anna Rudhiantiana Legawati, his first wife reported Ruhut for having an affair with a woman who had married and had children. Reportedly, Ruhut and Diana lived together in an apartment in Mega Kuningan area, South Jakarta, for a few months.
The issues of racism
In the 2009 elections, Ruhut who joined the campaign team as coordinator and speaker for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - Boediono campaign, made a controversial remark in a debate. There were also the speakers from Jusuf Kalla - Wiranto campaign team, Fuad Bawazier; and Permadi from Megawati - Prabowo campaign team. On that occasion, Ruhut stated "Arab tidak pernah membantu Indonesia (Arab people never helped Indonesia)". This had led to criticism and strong reactions from the various elements of society, especially among Arab descents and also groups of Muslim.
On 3 June 2009, the Front Pembela Islam (FPI) / Islam Defenders Front, an Indonesian Islamic organisation, said they would bring Ruhut from the court for his statement that had offended the Arabs. However, the police did not respond.
Over this incident, Ruhut appeared and personally and on behalf of the Democratic Party expressed apology for his statement. This case was not carried to the court.
Ruhut, once in the discussion of "Angket SBY jatuh" hosted by Forum Umat Islam at Wisma Darmala Sakti, made a racism statement again. During the discussion, he said:
Kasus yang seperti begini dari dulu sudah ada. Sejak zaman Megawati sudah ada, waktu itu Sri Mulyani-nya (maksudnya Menkeu) si Cina, Kwik Kian Gie.
Translation:
Cases like this have long ago been there. Since the era of Megawati has been already there, that time was the Sri Mulyani (he meant Minister of Finance) of that Chinese, Kwik Kian Gie.
Filmography
Films
- Get Married 2 (2009)
- Sajadah Ka'bah (2011)
Soap Opera
- Gerhana (1998–2003)