Deputies unite in protest against House speaker

All three deputies of the House of Representatives speaker expressed disappointment at the way their boss presided over the plenary session on the Bank Century case on Tuesday, which ended in chaos.

The three deputies held a joint press conference to respond to a decision by House Speaker Marzuki Ali of the Democratic Party to postpone the plenary session.

“A House speaker should never take sides while leading a plenary session. He called to put the session into recess without consulting his deputies, regardless of the fact that the legislative body leadership is based on collective and collegial grounds,” one of the deputies, Pramono Anung from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said.

“Today’s incident has truly tarnished the image of the House.”

Fellow deputy speaker, the Golkar Party’s Priyo Budi Santoso, said that if only Marzuki consulted his deputies beforehand, the chaos could have been avoided.

The other deputy, Anis Matta from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said Marzuki’s actions had devalued the achievements of the House inquiry committee into the Bank Century case.

“The committee has shown tremendous performance in its 60-day tenure only to have it tarnished in this plenary,” he said.

Heated debates during the House plenary session on Tuesday led to scuffles between lawmakers.

The debate began when several legislators insisted that the House go to vote on the case on Tuesday, rather than sticking to the original schedule for Wednesday.