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House may force oil tycoon's attendance at Freeport scandal hearing
Muhammad Reza Chalid attends a ceremony of a cabinet member
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Muhammad Reza Chalid attends a ceremony of a cabinet member. (Tribunnews.com) (Tribunnews.com)
Muhammad Reza Chalid attends a ceremony of a cabinet member. (Tribunnews.com)
The House Representatives ethics council (MKD) is considering summoning oil and gas businessman Muhammad Reza Chalid to a council hearing in connection with his involvement in the PT Freeport Indonesia scandal.
'We could call him by force if necessary,' Akbar Faisal, a member of the House Representatives and of the MKD, said on Monday.
Reza was involved in an informal meeting with House speaker Setya Novanto and the president director of Freeport Maroef Sjamsoeddin, in which he apparently requested shares in Freeport in exchange for favorable government treatment.
In that meeting, which was recorded in whole by Maroef, Setya reportedly misused the names of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in asking for the shares.
'We are going to hold an internal meeting first, and I will ask that we summon him,' MKD deputy chairman Junimart Girsang told thejakartapost.com.
The MKD has already examined Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, the Freeport president director and the House speaker.
The scale and scope of Reza's political tentacles were hinted at during the hearing at the House's ethics council last week, during Maroef's testimony on Setya's alleged misconduct.
A majority of the council members agreed to make public the recorded conversation between Setya, Reza and Maroef. (dan)
