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AGO slams move to politicize bus scandal
The Attorney Generalâs Office (AGO) emphasized on Thursday that a graft case surrounding the procurement of Jakarta city buses should not be politicized and that there was no need to summon Jakarta Governor Joko âJokowiâ Widodo as a witness
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he Attorney General's Office (AGO) emphasized on Thursday that a graft case surrounding the procurement of Jakarta city buses should not be politicized and that there was no need to summon Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo as a witness.
AGO spokesman Setia Untung Arimuladi said his office was continuing to investigate the case after it named former Transportation Agency head Udar Pristono a graft suspect in connection to the procurement of hundreds of Transjakarta buses from China worth Rp 1 trillion (US$86.73 million).
'Please do not drag politics into this case,' said Setia, referring to attempts by Udar to involve Jokowi in the case after he became a presidential candidate running in the July 9 election.
When asked by journalists about the possibility of summoning Jokowi, junior deputy attorney general for special crime Widyo Pramono said, 'There is still no move in that direction'.
Udar stands accused of corruption in the bus procurement, which was conducted last year and saw the price of each bus allegedly marked up. Three other suspects ' two Jakarta Transportation Agency officials and an official with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) ' also face charges.
Jokowi's team of lawyers held a press conference on Thursday, responding to accusations made by Udar and his lawyer, who implied that Jokowi had been involved in the procurement. Previously, Udar said that he had just 'followed Jokowi's instruction to carry out the procurement'.
Udar's lawyer, Razman Arif Nasution from Eggi Sudjana and Partners law firm, said that both Jokowi and his deputy, Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, should also be questioned and investigated by the AGO.
Ahok has repeatedly lambasted the bus procurement, saying the price was marked up and that the buses had arrived in poor condition, well below minimum specifications.
According to kompas.com, Eggi and his firm also represent presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. The firm denied any connection between the candidate and its representation of Udar.
'This is purely to seek justice and there is no connection at all to politics and the presidential election. It is related to the position of Jokowi as Jakarta governor,' said Razman.
However, a lawyer with Jokowi's legal team, Alexander Lay, said the case was clearly being used to attack Jokowi.
'It is a smear campaign by another party,' he said.
Todung Mulya Lubis, also a member of Jokowi's legal team, said that Jokowi was ready to be questioned if necessary, emphasizing that Jokowi had from the outset supported the investigation into the case.
'Jokowi was not involved in the bidding process, so the allegation is groundless,' he said.
Political analyst Yunarto Wijaya of Charta Politika said that the faulty bus case implicating Jokowi's subordinates in the city administration would unlikely affect his popularity.
'So far there's no indication of Jokowi's involvement in the case. There was no evidence that Jokowi was involved in the case, nor is there a summons by the AGO for Jokowi as a witness. So, saying that Jokowi has been implicated in the case is jumping to a conclusion,' said Yunarto.
'This issue, however, has been blown up and politicized [...] It is too interesting to ignore that Udar's lawyer is part of Prabowo's legal team.'
Y. Dicky Christanto contributed reporting to this story.
