T

he movement to oppose an amendment of the 2002 Corruption Eradication Law has gained momentum, with the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) joining the coalition to fight for the cause.

Spokesperson for the PKS faction at the House of Representatives, lawmaker Nasir Djamil, said that his faction opposed the proposal as the provisions in the draft bill seemed aimed at weakening the antigraft body.

'€œ[We] reject any further discussion of the amendment if the President [does not have the support of] the House of Representatives. We also decline [to cooperate if Baleg [the House Legislation Body] does not involve the KPK in the bill'€™s deliberation,'€ Nasir told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Leader of the PKS faction at the House Jazuli Juwaini confirmed that an internal faction meeting on Thursday had come to a unanimous decision to oppose the proposal to amend the law.

The PKS is the third party to block the amendment proposal after the Gerindra Party and the Democratic Party, whose stonewalling prompted the House to delay the bill'€™s endorsement.

The PKS has seen a number of its politicians, including former party chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, prosecuted by the KPK for graft.

The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Luthfi to 16 years in prison for graft and money laundering in December 2013.

The House delayed a plenary session to endorse the revised draft after the Democratic Party rallied the House'€™s Steering Committee (Bamus) to support such.

Bamus resolved to schedule the plenary for next Thursday to accommodate the endorsement of other bills also up for discussion.

In Wednesday'€™s meeting of the working group (Panja) to amend the law at Baleg, nine out of ten factions endorsed the draft proposed for deliberation. Only the Gerindra Party outright opposed going ahead with the revision.

On Thursday, the Democratic Party went through a change of heart after former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who chairs the party, instructed lawmakers to follow Gerindra'€™s lead and oppose the plan.

Following the move of the Democratic Party and Gerindra, other factions in the House are beginning to reconsider their stance.

Lawmakers from the NasDem Party and the United Development Party (PPP) have said that they would support the government'€™s position on the amendment plan.

NasDem lawmaker Johnny G. Plate said his party would closely monitor the issue, while PPP faction leader Dimyati Natakusumah fell short of saying that his party might reverse its opinion if the President decided to oppose the amendment plan.

'€œWe'€™ll wait on the political will and the good will of the President,'€ he said on Friday.

In the meantime, the National Mandate Party (PAN) has pledged to maintain its support for amending the law, dismissing the move by PKS and the Democrats as a bluff.

'€œTheir official stance regarding the issue remains the same as it was in the Baleg meeting a while ago. It is the media who make it seem like the Democratic Party and the PKS have reversed their stance '€” I haven'€™t received any such information,'€ said Mulfachri Harahap, PAN'€™s faction leader at the House, on Friday.

Mulfachri said it was still too early in the legislative process to reject the law amendment proposal, with discussions still revolving around the draft bill that was first proposed.

Not even the government was involved in the early deliberation stage, he said. '€œWe haven'€™t seen a single finished product yet, so how can people reverse their opinions?'€ Mulfachri said

The PAN lawmaker, also deputy chairman of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said that his party had agreed with most of the amendments made in the early stages of deliberation, only taking issue with the excessive authority of the KPK supervisory body.

'€œWe will see later on whether there is any indication that the revision is aimed at weakening [the antigraft body]; I think it wouldn'€™t just be Gerindra that opposed that notion, but the entire House,'€ Mulfachri said.