House grills speaker over controversial Supreme Court bill

The House of Representatives’ disciplinary committee questioned House speaker Agung Laksono over an allegation he had violated their ethics code during a final committee vote on a bill about the Supreme Court in December last year.

The bill included the controversial article extending the retirement age for  high-ranking judges to 70.

Leaving the House after the session, Agung said he had led the December meeting according to House rules.

“At the meeting, only the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was objecting to the bill while the other nine parties agreed with the endorsement,” he told state news agency Antara.

“I then put forward the bill to the plenary forum and they agreed to endorse the bill,” Agung said.

The NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has reported Agung to the council over an allegation he violated the codes because not enough parties had attended the meeting to meet quorum requirements. It was also reported the PDI-P members had walked out of the meeting because it did not support the controversial article on retirement age. (ewd)