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tate-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan publicly apologized on Wednesday for mistakenly identifying lawmakers Andi Timo Pangerang of the Democratic Party and M. Ichlas El Qudsi of the National Mandate Party (PAN) as individuals who demanded kickbacks from state-owned enterprises.

Dahlan had named the lawmakers in a list of corrupt politicians he submitted to the House of Representatives’ ethics council. Dahlan later dropped the two names from the list. “I apologize to both lawmakers. I have also released a statement clarifying that they are clean and had nothing to do with extortion,” Dahlan told reporters after a questioning session with the House’s ethics council on Wednesday.

Dahlan said that he was ready to step down from his position if he was deemed responsible for making the false claim.

Many applauded Dahlan’s public apology. Secretary of the PAN faction at the House, Teguh Juwarno, said that Dahlan, or any other government officials, should be more careful before going public with their accusations.

“I appreciate Pak Dahlan doing this. I hope it will repair the good name of my colleague. Please be careful next time when making such accusations,” Teguh said.

After dropping Andi and Ichlas, Dahlan gave two more names to the House. Sources familiar with the issue said that the two new names also came from the Democratic Party and PAN.

Other politicians who have been implicated in the extortion claims include Achsanul Qosasi, Linda Megawati and Idris Sugeng from the Democratic Party; I Gusti Agung Rai Wirajaya and Sumaryoto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P); and the Golkar Party’s Idris Laena.

On Wednesday, the House’s ethics council also summoned Idris Laena for clarification. Council chairman M. Prakosa told reporters that Idris had admitted to attending informal meetings with officials of the state-owned shipyard company PT PAL outside of the House of Representatives compound.

“He also told us that he did make informal phone calls with those officials. It’s unethical for lawmakers to informally discuss budget-related issues with any officials. His confession has opened the door for us to pursue our investigation,” Prakosa said.

The ethics council is expected to summon more implicated lawmakers on Thursday. Idris declined to answer questions from reporters.

Meanwhile, Hendri Saparini economist with the Center for Economic Development Studies (econit) called on Dahlan to end his publicity campaign and get down to business by naming all politicians and officials involved in the scandal.

“In his first days as a minister, Dahlan promised that he would make some major reforms in SOEs. Now, he needs to fulfill his promise. By doing so, people will finally understand his good intentions,” Hendri said.

Separately, labor unions at state-owned enterprises staged a protest on Wednesday demanding Dahlan submit evidence of extortion practices within SOEs to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Union leader FX Arief Poyuono said that Dahlan could at least use the testimony of SOE executives who were victims of extortion as his evidence.

Dahlan is also believed to have other supporting evidence such as text messages, records of telephone conversation and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

“It is [Dahlan Iskan’s] executives’ responsibility to submit it to the KPK and let the KPK do their job,” Arief told reporters at the KPK headquarters in Jakarta. (riz)