Golkar defiant in Koran scandal

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Going somewhere?: Golkar Party lawmaker Zulkarnaen Djabar (foreground), a graft suspect in the Koran procurement affair, rushes to leave the House of Representatives’ Ethics Council after wrapping up his questioning on Monday.(JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

JAKARTA: Golkar Party leadership has turned down calls for the dismissal of graft suspect Zulkarnaen Djabar and only decided to remove the politician from his post as a member of the House of Representatives’ budget committee.

In a letter sent to the House Ethics Council, leader of the Golkar Party faction at the House, Setya Novanto said that Golkar decided to sack Zulkarnaen from his position in the committee because of his alleged involvement in the Rp 55 billion (US$5.83 million) graft-ridden Koran procurement.

“It is necessary to remove Zulkarnaen Djabar, ID Number A-213, from the House budget committee. We will give information on who will replace him soon,” he said.

Zulkarnaen said that his removal from the budget committee would enable him to focus on the on-going investigation into the Koran procurement scandal.

To provide him legal assistance, Zulkarnaen has hired former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra as his lawyer.

“I am not guilty. I do not have anything to do with the procurement,” he said on Monday.