The House of Representatives' ethics council said Monday evening it would announce its decision on Dec. 16 about whether House Speaker Setya Novanto violated ethical standards during talks over extending the work contract of PT Freeport Indonesia.

The council also decided to stop trying to summon oil tycoon Muhammad Reza Chalid, who has already ignored two previous summonses to testify. The council members were previously split regarding the summon.

Ethics council chief Surahman Hidayat said that the council would conduct an internal meeting to decide Setya's fate on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

"[We will have] the internal meeting to conclude [the hearings], insya Allah [God willing], on Wednesday," Surahman said on Monday evening.

As well, he continued, the council has given up its efforts to get the original audio recording of a conversation crucial to the case, which is currently being held by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

The council first tried and failed to obtain the recording, which was made on the mobile phone of Freeport president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and is of talks involving Maroef, Setya and Reza that took place in June, on Dec. 10 because Maroef refused to give it to anyone except the AGO.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said had already handed over an audio copy and a transcript of the recording to the council.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla were mentioned in the conversation as possible recipients of Freeport stock in exchange for the contract extension. Luhut'€™s name was reportedly mentioned 66 times.

According to the ethics council's deputy chief, Junimart Girsang, every council member will write a legal statement, which then form the council'€™s legal decision. The decision is final and cannot be appealed.

Should Setya's conduct be determined to be a serious violation of ethics, the council will form a panel consisting of three council members and four independent members representing the public.

"If it was a light violation, then it must be accumulated and categorized as a moderate violation. It is prohibited [for a House member] to have two light violations in a row," Junimart told reporters on Monday evening.

Setya has already been sanctioned for one light violation of ethical standards because of an October meeting he had with US businessman Donald Trump, who is campaigning to become the Republican Party's candidate for that country's upcoming presidential elections.

"A moderate violation means [Setya] has to be removed from the House speaker's chair," Junimart said. (ags)

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