emocratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has gathered the party’s senior officials to discuss internal matters following the arrest of party member I Putu Sudiartana in a bribery case.
Party spokesperson Imelda Sari said her side had yet to issue an official statement on the case as it was still waiting for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to make a statement.
"We do not know whether this [bribery] case is an individual act, or something that is related to his position as a member of House of Representatives Commission III, or because of his role as the party's vice chief treasurer," she said on Wednesday.
Imelda called on all parties to not make any judgments on the lawmaker because the KPK had yet to make a statement on the arrest.
The spokesperson said the meeting held at Yudhoyono’s house in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday, was in response to a KPK operation on Tuesday, during which the commission’s investigators allegedly caught red-handed the lawmaker, who currently serves on Commission III overseeing legal affairs, human rights and security.
As of Wednesday afternoon, it remains unknown whether the KPK’s operation is connected to Putu’s role as a Commission III lawmaker or the party’s vice chief treasurer.
The KPK sealed Putu's office on the ninth floor of the Nusantara I building at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Three other people were reportedly arrested in separate locations in the operation.
Putu attended a breaking of the fast gathering with KPK leaders and several lawmakers from Commission III before the arrest occurred.
Earlier this year, the antigraft body arrested Damayanti Wisnu Putranti of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction in a graft case related to a construction project. The KPK named Damayanti, who served on the House's Commission V overseeing infrastructure and transportation, a suspect in the case on Jan.14.
Damayanti is currently standing trial. Her colleagues on Commission V, namely Budi Supriyanto of the Golkar Party faction and Andi Taufan Tiro of the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, have also been named suspects in the case. (ebf)
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