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Luhut criticized for inviting members of ethics council to press conference
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan (left) prepares to give a press conference in Jakarta, on Thursday
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan (left) prepares to give a press conference in Jakarta, on Thursday. Besides giving updates on an international conference on terrorism, he also denied any involvement in contract negotiations surrounding mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. (Antara/Mujammad Adimaja) (left) prepares to give a press conference in Jakarta, on Thursday. Besides giving updates on an international conference on terrorism, he also denied any involvement in contract negotiations surrounding mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. (Antara/Mujammad Adimaja)
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span class="inline inline-center">Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan (left) prepares to give a press conference in Jakarta, on Thursday. Besides giving updates on an international conference on terrorism, he also denied any involvement in contract negotiations surrounding mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. (Antara/Mujammad Adimaja)
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has been criticized for inviting members of the House of Representatives' ethics council to a press conference on Friday to get across his message that he had nothing to do with alleged misconduct by House Speaker Setya Novanto.
Yandri Susanto, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN) said on Saturday that Luhut's invitation to the council's members was inappropriate, because the council was still busy with its inquiry into the alleged case of misconduct.
'As a House member, I feel that it is inappropriate. It is not right that such an affair is widely witnessed by the public,' Yandri said as reported by tribunnews.com on Saturday. He also questioned the motives of the ministry to invite him to the press conference.
'Pak Luhut should have rejected their presence. Pak Luhut should not have invited them and they should not have come,' Yandri insisted, alleging that those who attended the press conference were council members that tried to protect Setya.
During the press conference, Luhut admitted that Setya and businessmen Reza Chalid, who had a controversial meeting with PT Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin, were friends of his, but Luhut warned to file lawsuits against anyone who tried to relate him to the alleged misconduct.
'He should be angry with Reza, not others,' said Yandri, adding that Luhut could also have reported Reza to police for misusing his name.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said recently reported Setya to the ethics council for allegedly claiming to have won the approval of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to secure shares and projects from Freeport in exchange for helping the company extend its contract and continue operating its gold mine, one the world's largest, in Papua.
Sudirman also handed over a tape recording of a meeting between Setya, Reza and Maroef. In the recording, Luhut's name was reportedly mentioned 66 times.
According to Yandri, Reza could be accused of misusing Luhut's name during the meeting. (bbn)
