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House speaker must step down, says community group
Under pressure: A member of the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy, Adian Napitupulu, says House speaker Setya Novanto (pictured) must step down from his position for allegedly misusing the names of the President and Vice President and allegedly attempting to trade governmental favors for shares in Freeport Indonesia
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Under pressure: A member of the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy, Adian Napitupulu, says House speaker Setya Novanto (pictured) must step down from his position for allegedly misusing the names of the President and Vice President and allegedly attempting to trade governmental favors for shares in Freeport Indonesia. (Tempo/Dhemas Reviyanto Atmodjo) (pictured) must step down from his position for allegedly misusing the names of the President and Vice President and allegedly attempting to trade governmental favors for shares in Freeport Indonesia. (Tempo/Dhemas Reviyanto Atmodjo)
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span class="caption">Under pressure: A member of the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy, Adian Napitupulu, says House speaker Setya Novanto (pictured) must step down from his position for allegedly misusing the names of the President and Vice President and allegedly attempting to trade governmental favors for shares in Freeport Indonesia. (Tempo/Dhemas Reviyanto Atmodjo)
The Jakarta chapter of the social communication forum (FKB) Flobamora has urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the House of Representatives ethics council to look into an alleged graft case involving House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto.
Setya, a Golkar Party politician, has been accused of falsely claiming to speak for President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla and also seeking share allocations in exchange for helping gold and copper mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia (Freeport) extend its contract.
The group, which comprises 10 people, arrived at KPK headquarters around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and took about 2 hours to finalize and submit its demands to the anti-graft body.
FKM Flobamora said that its appeal represents the interests of the people of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, who are concerned about Setya's conduct.
"We are calling on the House to demote Setya Novanto from House speaker, and dismiss him as a lawmaker if necessary, so that the House can be free from any wrongdoings of his," Petrus Selenius, a lawyer with the group, told the press on Wednesday.
Setya's name was mentioned in a conversation transcript submitted by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said to the ethics council. In a recorded conversation of what appeared to be a meeting to discuss the Freeport contract extension, Setya was alleged to have asked for a 20 percent shareholding in the company on behalf of President Jokowi and Vice President Kalla.
Setya repeatedly denied that he had mentioned the names of President Jokowi and Vice President Kalla during his meeting with Freeport executives, although admitted to meet Freeport Indonesia executives.
Setya has served as a lawmaker for three consecutive terms. Last year, he was elected as House speaker for 2014-2019, and he represents East Nusa Tenggara.
The activists requested the KPK prioritize investigations into the misuse of the President and Vice President's names. Flobamora handed over a 5-page dossier to the KPK, detailing the case chronology and several laws that they suspect have been violated. Most accusations were without evidence, however.
'This case must be settled through due legal process, not only through the House ethics council," Petrus said.
"He should step down voluntarily [and] wholeheartedly. It's been very hard to touch this man," Petrus said, referring to several cases in which Setya has been suspected of dishonest and unlawful actions. (ebf)(+)
