Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan expressed his fury following his name being dragged into the scandal involving gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Luhut said on Friday that he was outraged that his name had been linked to the alleged conspiracy that has put House Speaker Setya Novanto in the spotlight.

"I am utterly disgusted and my family is angered, and so are my sons who are in the military. This is outrageous," he said in a press conference at his office in Jakarta.

Luhut claimed that he had not done anything that contravened his principles in serving the country.

"At my age, I am loyal only to my boss, the President of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.

Luhut said he had never talked to Setya or oilman Muhammad Reza Chalid about influencing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in a discussion about Freeport's contract extension.

He also questioned the logic of the 20 percent shareholding allegedly demanded by Setya and Reza during their meeting with Freeport's president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin.

"I never asked for Freeport shares. Never. Besides, is it logical that someone would give 20 percent share in Freeport to anyone. A 20 percent shareholding would be equal to US$1.6 billion," he said saying that it made no sense as Freeport's parent company US-based Freeport McMoran was a listed company in the New York Stock Exchange.

Furthermore, he said, if someone was to give shares to other people, it would be the commissionaires' job not that of the president director.

Setya and Reza allegedly asked for 11 and 9 percent shareholdings in Freeport for Jokowi and Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, respectively, in return for helping the mining giant secure an extension to its contract.

In a now infamous recorded conversation made by Maroef, Luhut's name was repeatedly mentioned. The recording suggested that Setya and Reza claimed that Luhut would help them in accelerating Freeport's contract extension.

"In my experience with Pak Luhut, in dealing with the President he is 99 percent successful," Setya said in the recording made public last week in a hearing of the House ethics council.

Luhut was accompanied by members of the council during the press conference. They were Kahar Muzakkir, Adies Kadir and Ridwan Bae.

The council plans to hold two hearings with Luhut and Reza on Monday in a probe into Setya's alleged ethical misconduct. (rin)

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