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fter skipping a questioning session on Monday, People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Zulkifli Hasan was grilled for 10 hours over his alleged roles in two separate graft cases surrounding the issuance of land conversion permits by his former office, the Forestry Ministry, at Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters on Tuesday.

Zulkifli, in his capacity as the former forestry minister, has gained notoriety following revelations that he had issued permits for a luxury housing project in Bogor, West Java, and for an oil palm plantation in Riau, both of which have been marred by bribery.

The antigraft body has arrested property firm PT Sentul City president director Cahyadi Kumala for allegedly bribing Bogor regent Rachmat Yasin to obtain a recommendation required by the ministry to issue the permit. Rachmat, who is currently on trial for the case, allegedly accepted a bribe from Cahyadi to issue the recommendation.

Riau Governor Annas Maamun was caught, along with palm oil businessman Gulat Manurung, as the latter tried to deliver a bribe to the governor to obtain a land conversion permit. Zulkifli was questioned by the KPK to determine whether the issuance of the two permits followed proper procedures.

After undergoing questioning, the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician confirmed that KPK investigators had intended to question him with regard to the two cases, but had only addressed the Bogor case as of Tuesday night. Tuesday'€™s questioning was the second time Zulkifli has been questioned in the Bogor case. '€œI will return tomorrow morning for questioning in the Riau case,'€ Zulkifli said as he prepared to leave KPK headquarters.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said it was too early to say whether Zulkifli would ne named a suspect in the cases along with Cahyadi, Gulat, Annas and Rachmat as the investigation was still ongoing.

'€œAs long as we find two pieces of strong evidence, we have no doubt that we'€™ll net other people in both cases,'€ Johan said.

He said that the KPK was also still investigating whether Gulat and Cahyadi bribed Forestry Ministry officials, including Zulkifli, with regard to the issuance of the permits.

The ministry'€™s director general for planology, Bambang Supijanto, who was also grilled on Tuesday, defended his former boss, saying that Zulkifli did not issue any land conversion permits in Riau or Bogor.

He said Annas'€™ statement in which he stated that Zulkilfi had approved half of Gulat'€™s land conversion proposal for his 140-hectare oil palm plantation in Kuantan Singingi regency in Riau '€œwas not based on fact'€.

He further said that the ministry had received a land conversion proposal from PT Bukit Jonggol Asri (BJA) for nearly 3,000 hectares of forest area for housing projects in Bogor, but Zulkifli rejected the request.

'€œIt [BJA'€™s proposal] lacks the necessary requirements, such as land replacement for the to-be-converted land and a recommendation from the West Java governor,'€ Bambang said.

Zulkifli'€™s predecessor, M. Prakosa, who led the ministry for the 2001-2004 period, was also questioned on Tuesday. After being questioned, he said that the status of the land in Bogor was that of a '€œproductive forest'€, which is not eligible for housing.

Prakosa had previously said that during his tenure he rejected the proposal from the BJA, but his successors '€” Islamic-based Crescent Star Party (PBB) politician MS Kaban, forestry minister from 2004 to 2009, and Zulkifli '€” later gave the company'€™s proposal the OK.