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or the umpteenth time, the public and antigraft activists have called on the House of Representatives to halt its move to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), a warning that fell on deaf ears on Sunday as lawmakers insisted on carrying on with their plan to launch an inquiry into the antigraft body.

The House’s inquiry team is set to invite Hanura politician Miryam S. Haryani, who has been named a suspect in the e-ID graft case that implicates dozens of lawmakers, to a meeting for “clarification” on Monday.

Miryam will be the first person questioned by the House’s team, which, according to its deputy chairman Taufiqulhadi, will only ask Miryam whether or not she was intimidated by several lawmakers regarding the case, such as earlier claimed by KPK investigators.

Having Miryam at the meeting, however, will require a permit from the KPK, which has placed her in detention since last month. The House’s move is seen by antigraft campaigners as a form of intervention by the House against the KPK.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Lola Ester slammed the House for “overreacting.”

“The inquiry is unacceptable, particularly as the e-ID case investigation is underway. This shows that lawmakers are not cooperating with the KPK in eradicating corruption,” Lola said while representing her fellow activists and some legal experts on Sunday.

The House sent a letter last week asking the KPK to allow Miryam to leave detention to visit the House.

KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarief said his office had responded to the letter but refused to give details about whether he had given his permission for Miryam to visit the House or not.

“Let’s wait for tomorrow [Monday]. We hope the House has received the letter. The point is, the KPK always make decisions based on the Constitution and government regulations. We also held consultation with several experts before making our decision,” Laode told The Jakarta Post.

The inquiry team, meanwhile, has demanded that the KPK refrain from hindering the work of the House.

“We only want to seek clarification. That’s all. The KPK should not prohibit her from coming. This inquiry team is guaranteed under the Constitution. So if the KPK doesn’t obey [our demand], it means the commission has violated the Constitution,” the NasDem Party lawmaker told the Post.

Team member Masinton Pasaribu from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has accused the KPK of arrogance, claiming that the commission had “manipulated” the public to secure the public’s support.

“We launched the inquiry not to intervene in the legal process but to investigate whether the KPK has done its job in line with regulations or not. The KPK is arrogant. If they are right, why are they afraid [of the inquiry]?” Masinton said.

The inquiry is not the first time the House, the country’s most corrupt institution according to most surveys, has tried to undermine the KPK, which has launched a string of investigations into corrupt officials.

The ICW alone has recorded at least eight attempts on the part of the House to intervene in the work of the KPK, including in 2008 when the House rejected a KPK request for an additional budget of Rp 90 billion to build a new headquarters to solve problems of overcapacity.

The House has also tried to curtail the KPK’s investigation powers through a failed attempt to amend a 2002 law on the KPK. While lawmakers have always claimed that the revision was intended to strengthen the KPK, the proposed provisions betrayed an opposite intention. If passed, the bill would have limited the lifetime of the antigraft institution to 12 years. (kuk)