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n Agriculture Ministry official said in a hearing on Wednesday that former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq made several attempts to influence Agriculture Minister Suswono, a senior PKS politician, regarding the beef import scheme run by the ministry.

Baran Wirawan, Suswono'€™s secretary, testified that he was frequently summoned to Luthfi'€™s office at the PKS headquarters.

'€œLuthfi would ask me to see him because he had a message [for Suswono],'€ he told the Jakarta Corruption Court in Kuningan, South Jakarta, during the trial of PT Indoguna Utama directors Juard Effendi and Arya Abdi Effendi. The meat importing company allegedly attempted to bribe Luthfi through his close aide, Ahmad Fathanah, to attain an overall beef import quota increase from the ministry.

Baran said Luthfi ordered him to tell Suswono to be more '€œsensitive'€ regarding beef-related issues. '€œSuch as the skyrocketing beef prices and the circulation of pork and rat meat in the market,'€ he said, adding that he had delivered the message to Suswono, who agreed to it.

Last year, those issues were used by meat importers to call on the government to increase the overall national beef import quota, which was reduced to protect local businesses.

Baran initially said that he was rarely summoned by Luthfi. But when Judge Hendra Yospin put pressure on him, Baran retracted his statement, saying that he had been summoned more than 10 times.

The witness, however, made it clear that Luthfi never explicitly asked the ministry to raise the overall beef import quota.

This was not the first time the PKS allegedly attempted to interfere with the ministry. Last Friday, Suswono testified that he was once scolded by PKS chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin about the same matter.

'€œHilmi voiced public concern on the circulating pork and rat meat. He was concerned as the patron of an Islamic party,'€ Suswono said.

Like Baran, Suswono also denied allegations that Hilmi tried to persuade him to increase the overall beef import quota.

The scandal, which implicated some PKS executives, created tension between the PKS and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Also on Wednesday, the party announced plans to reshuffle its lawmakers at the House of Representatives. Fahri Hamzah, a known critic of the KPK, will be moved to the House'€™s Commission III overseeing legal affairs. He is currently a member of House Commission VII overseeing energy and mining.

Fahri denied allegations that the reshuffle had anything to do with the tension between the party and the antigraft body, saying that he only wanted to safeguard the Constitution.

The beef scandal also sparked calls for the Islamic party to leave the government'€™s coalition due to concerns that the six-party union was no longer a convenient place for the party.

Fahri on Wednesday expressed his disappointment, '€œI really want this party leave the coalition. I oppose SBY'€™s leadership,'€ Fahri said, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Some PKS members suggested the party'€™s majelis syura (religious council) to seriously consider Fahri'€™s proposal. '€œLeaving [the coalition] is what'€™s best as it is no longer a convenient place to be. I personally think that the coalition is too focused on the government'€™s '€˜agenda'€™ and has neglected our ideals,'€ another PKS lawmaker, Nasir Jamil, said.

The KPK denied allegations that it was targeting the PKS and had overlooked other cases involving other political parties. It said that the beef import case had progressed quickly only because the suspects were caught red-handed.