KPK to resume investigation into lawmakers accused of graft

Defying requests from lawmakers to be shielded from graft probes, the antigraft body will continue to question leaders of the House of Representatives’ budget committee regarding alleged bribery in the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Johan Budi said on Sunday that the KPK needed information from the committee’s leaders as individuals, but not as a committee.

“We have never questioned the duties, functions or authorities of the budget committee. It’s not something that we want to know about. The summoning was really related to the [corruption] case that we are investigating,” Johan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The KPK is currently working on a bribery case centering on a resettlement infrastructure project under the ministry.

Businesswoman Dharnawati allegedly arranged to distribute Rp 1.5 billion (US$171,000) in bribes for two ministry officials, Dadong Irabarelawan and I Nyoman Suisnaya, to accelerate the disbursement of a Rp 500 billion project in Manokwari, West Papua.

Johan said the investigation had revealed the roles of the four committee leaders in the case.

In questioning the witnesses, he said, the investigators should pose formal questions such as what were their positions in the committee, how they worked, what their responsibilities were, and whether they were
acquainted with the graft suspects.

“The budgeting authority-related questions were not all that the investigation covered,” said Johan.

Committee chairman Melchias Marcus Mekeng and his deputies, Tamsil Linrung, Mirwan Amir and Olly Dondokambey, were questioned last week by KPK investigators over the high-profile bribery case as the anticorruption commission suspected the committee of demanding so-called “commitment fees” from the company that won the contract worth Rp 73 billion ($8.32 million).

The budget committee later announced that they would suspend the deliberation of the 2012 state budget, arguing that their budgeting function had been targeted by the KPK.

Melchias said that the committee would suspend deliberations on the 2012 State Budget until the law enforcement bodies including the KPK promised not to question them over their budgeting authority.

KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas said he and the committee did not feel threatened by the House’s demand.

“I only pity the citizens who would suffer for the late budget disbursement,” he said.

House Deputy Speaker Anis Matta said that the KPK was only looking for the committee’s mistakes.

“It’s just a trumped-up charge,” said the Prosperous Justice Party politician on Saturday.

The House might not be able to pass the 2012 state budget into law in October as scheduled if the committee goes actually boycotts the budget deliberations.

A House meeting will be held at the beginning of this week to discuss the problem.

Not all lawmakers disagreed with the KPK’s investigation.

Golkar Party lawmaker Harry Azhar Azis said the budget committee’s refusal to deliberate the budget was against the 2009 Law on Legislative Bodies.

“The budget committee has authorities in deliberating the state budget. It doesn’t make sense that they have to boycott the deliberations simply because they are upset about the questioning of the committee leaders by the KPK,” he said.