T

he House of Representatives'€™ ethics council canceled its examination of an alleged breach of ethics by Speaker Setya Novanto on Monday, as members questioned the validity of the conversation records that allegedly reveal the Golkar Party lawmaker'€™s attempt to broker a deal between the government and a mining company.

The hearing, which was slated to decide the scheduling for the case examination, got stuck in debate over the validity of evidence presented before the council.

Council member Akbar Faizal of the NasDem Party said that many questions were raised over the validity of the conversation records.

'€œSome members said the records had not been verified,'€ he said after a closed meeting among council members.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said had submitted a report to the council, accusing Setya of attempting to broker a deal during contract negotiations with Freeport Indonesia, a unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan.

The report also suggested Setya claimed he had won the approval of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to secure shares and projects from Freeport Indonesian in exchange for helping the firm extend its contract and continue operating its gold mine, one of the world'€™s largest, in Papua.

To support his report, Sudirman also submitted conversation records and transcripts between Setya, Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and oil and gas businessman Muhammad Reza Chalid that had allegedly revealed the controversial lobbying.

'€œSome from old [council] members, claimed that they never made the decision [to proceed with the examination],'€ said council deputy chairman Junimart Girsang of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

He added that there were also questions regarding inconsistencies between the records and transcripts.

Following pressure from the House'€™s opposition group, the Red-and-White Coalition, to drop Setya'€™s case, five party factions have replaced their members on the council.

'€œWhether the recordings match the transcript, such a thing should be decided during the hearing and not during the verification process,'€ Junimart went on.

The council consists of 17 members '€” nine from the opposition coalition, six from the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition and two from the neutral Democratic Party.

But recent developments in political parties, specifically Golkar and the National Mandate Party (PAN), may alter council support for Setya. Syarifudin Sudding of the Hanura Party said that Monday'€™s dissidents intentionally made the maneuver by raising unnecessary issues during the meeting, adding that three party factions had raised the verification issue.

'€œIt was Golkar that earlier suggested the case to be processed at the council,'€ Sudding said, adding Golkar'€™s decision to replace its members on the council may have been a move aimed at delaying the case at the council.

Syarifuddin also said that Golkar had intentionally brought up the idea of forming a special committee to probe the Freeport case to stop the ongoing process at the council.

Before the start of Monday'€™s hearing, council member from Golkar Ridwan Bae said he would suggest the formation of a special committee supervised by several House Commissions to handle the Freeport case.

'€œSuch a special committee could reveal objectivity in the case. The investigation result could be followed up by law enforcement institutions afterward,'€ Ridwan added. (foy)
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