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number of political party factions have brought in reinforcements to the House of Representatives'€™ ethics council (MKD) to leverage support to proceed on an alleged breach involving House Speaker Setya Novanto, following allegations that an amount of money had been allocated to safeguard the Golkar Party politician.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Henry Yosodiningrat, who will step in to replace his colleague Muhammad Prakosa, denied that there were any special instructions from his faction following his sudden appointment to the ethics council on Tuesday.

The ruling party'€™s lawmakers on the council earlier expressed support for carrying on with the process, which earlier had been held back by maneuvers of the opposition bloc Red-and-White Coalition.

'€œMy appointment might be based on the demand to have someone in the right place for the right job; I have a background in [law] and am a member of the ethics council at Kadin [the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry] and Peradi [Indonesian Advocates Association],'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Aside from the PDI-P, the National Mandate Party (PAN), Democratic Party and NasDem Party have also replaced their members on the council.

PAN recently announced its support for the government, following in the footsteps of the Great Indonesia Coalition, a PDI-P-led coalition that has supported President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo since the beginning of his administration.

PAN faction leader Mulfachri Harahap claimed there was no specific reason behind replacing two of its council representatives other than to ensure ease of coordination.

Ahmad Riski Sadiq was replaced as he would not be able to follow the hearing process because of other commitments, Mulfachri said. Riski was removed because he held a position at the House budgetary committee (Banggar).

'€œOur faction only allows each member to hold a position in one internal House body,'€ he explained on Wednesday. Fellow PAN politician Ahmad Bakrie will take his place on the council.

PAN also replaced Hang Ali Saputra on account of poor health. Mulfachri said he replaced Ali with Sugiman in anticipation of the council ramping up its workload next week.

A member of the PDI-P-led coalition, NasDem replaced its only council member, Fadholi, with Akbar Faisal, as the former was expected to focus on the party'€™s regional election strategy in Central Java.

The Democratic Party, which claims to be independent from the Red-and-White and Great Indonesia blocs, has replaced council member Guntur Sasongko with Fandi Utomo, a member of Banggar and House Commission II overseeing regional autonomy.

Fueled by support from the Red-and-White Coalition, the council was earlier pushed to drop processing Setya'€™s alleged ethics breach in a contract negotiation with mining company PT Freeport Indonesia.

The ethics council was previously split between members who called for an immediate hearing and those who challenged the report'€™s validity.

The council also faced external pressure from unnamed parties, with council deputy chairman Junimart Girsang of the PDI-P claiming he was threatened and even offered up to US$20 million (Rp 276 billion) in hush money in exchange for '€œsettling'€ the case.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported Setya to the council last Monday for allegedly brokering a deal with the local unit of oil and mining giant Freeport-McMoRan in exchange for helping the company to extend its contract and continue operations at the world'€™s largest gold mine, in Papua.

The current constellation of party representation on the council shows that the Red-and-White and Great Indonesia coalitions are almost on equal footing.

The Democratic Party, which historically has leaned toward the Red-and-White, has shown its support for carrying on with the process.

Democratic Party central executive board chairman Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin insisted that the party would continue to support the process, as long as both the plaintiff and the defendant had equal opportunities to defend themselves.

'€œThe process underway at the MKD must be fair and be exempt from any political nuances,'€ he said.

With the support from the Democrats and PAN, the Great Indonesia Coalition may secure 10 of 17 votes on the council, while the remainder still belong to the Red-and-White.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla applauded the transparency of the council in opening up the hearings to the public. '€œWe'€™ll wait for the results. Our hope is that it ends well,'€ Kalla told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Malang, East Java.