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Open House for Setya Novanto's hearing
Activists from the Clean House of Representatives Coalition pretend to chase a coalition member acting as House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto in Jakarta on Sunday
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Activists from the Clean House of Representatives Coalition pretend to chase a coalition member acting as House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto in Jakarta on Sunday. They asked the House's ethics council to open a hearing against Setya in the interests of public transparency. (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa) (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa)
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span class="inline inline-center">Activists from the Clean House of Representatives Coalition pretend to chase a coalition member acting as House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto in Jakarta on Sunday. They asked the House's ethics council to open a hearing against Setya in the interests of public transparency. (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa)
The House of Representatives' ethics council will have an open hearing on Wednesday regarding alleged misconduct by House Speaker Setya Novanto in falsely citing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's names in a backroom deal with mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.
The council's deputy chief Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said the first hearing would be held on Wednesday at 1 p.m. He said it would be broadcast by the council's internal television channel, MKD TV, and would also be open to the public.
"It will be open. [Journalists] are allowed to cover it. We are preparing a big place for the hearing, but we have not decided where," he said as quoted by news portal tempo.co.
Dasco, a lawmaker from the Gerindra Party, said the council would ask Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said to bring along a 120-minute recording of a conversation between Setya, oil and gas tycoon Mohammad Riza Chalid and Freeport's president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin as evidence.
"Yes, [the recording] will be [played] openly," he said, adding that he had not yet heard the recording in which Setya allegedly asked for shares from Freeport on behalf of Jokowi and Kalla.
Setya, a senior politician in the Golkar Party, allegedly falsely claimed to be representing Jokowi and Kalla in a meeting with Maroef, saying he would help the unit of US-based Freeport McMoRan to acquire an operating permit.
The hearing was a follow-up to a report made by Sudirman last month on Setya's alleged ethical misconduct. Wednesday's hearing will present Sudirman as the person who made the report. The council is set to continue on Thursday by inviting Maroef and Riza as witnesses in the case.
The council will first consider the witness testimonies and, if deemed sufficient, it will then summon Setya.
The council has seen a recent shake-up of its members, initiated by political factions at the House. The Golkar faction changed all three of its members on the council to Kahar Muzakir, Ridwan Bae and Adies Kadir. In an apparent stronger defense for Setya, they questioned Sudirman's legal standing as the person who made the report and even asked for the case to be halted. (rin)
