The House of Representatives ethics council said that it would probably work with law enforcers to try to bring oil business tycoon Reza Chalid, who was reported to have fled abroad, back to the country to testify in a session of House Speaker Setya Novanto's hearings in front of the council.

'€œAll procedures have and are based on regulations,'€ House ethics council head Marsiaman Saragih said as quoted by tempo.co on Sunday.

He said the House ethics council would cooperate with law enforcers if Reza failed to show up again for Setya'€™s hearings. The oil businessman has not fulfilled any of the council'€™s previous summonses.

Reza was reported to have attended a meeting between Setya and gold and copper mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin at a hotel in Jakarta on June 8. A transcript of their conversation was given by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said to the council. It suggests that Setya promised to facilitate negotiations on the extension of Freeport'€™s mining contract, which expires in 2021, provided that Freeport gives 11 percent of the mining company'€™s shares to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and 9 percent to Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

In the second summons letter sent to the addresses of all of Reza'€™s residences in Indonesia, the House ethics council asked the oil tycoon to give testimony on suspected ethics violations committed by Setya.

It was suspected that Setya had violated ethics in the negotiation of Freeport'€™s contract that would allow the company to continue working in Indonesia. An audio recording of the June 8 meeting and the transcript of it provided some evidence of the allegations.

The House ethics council was scheduled to question Reza at 10 a.m. on Monday, but as of 11 a.m. he had not yet shown up at the hearing room. Apart from Reza, the council has also summoned Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan to testify at 1 p.m. on Monday.

The Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) is also investigating the alleged conspiracy surrounding the possible misuse of Jokowi's and Kalla's names in the Freeport contract negotiations.

Marsiaman said the ethics violations allegedly committed by Setya could be categorized as a light violation. '€œThis results in a sanction for a House member who meets with officials or company representatives to discuss or work on something that has nothing to do with his or her main tasks and responsibilities,'€ he said.

Marsiaman said one of Setya'€™s mistakes was that he had invited Reza, someone who had no business being involved with issues the House speaker would discuss with Maroef, to attend the meeting. '€œFor what purpose was a businessman involved in the meeting?'€ asked the official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Marsiaman said what sanctions the ethics council would impose on Setya would depend on the testimony Riza would provide as the third party in the meeting. (ebf)(+)

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