S

ince he was named a graft suspect in the high-profile e-ID graft case, House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto seems to be playing all the cards in his deck in order to evade legal charges.

The Golkar Party chairman has repeatedly denied allegations that he had played a role in designing a scheme to swindle funds earmarked for the botched project, which is now being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Setya has failed to comply with two KPK summons for questioning as a suspect in the case, citing health conditions and effectively hindering investigators from completing their dossier on Setya before bringing him to court.

Setya reportedly dodged the first summons by claiming he was suffering from vertigo.

His family later cited “heart problems” for his absence from Monday’s questioning at the KPK headquarters.

The antigraft body’s team of doctors and investigators wasted no time in checking up on Setya’s health, and found that he had undergone heart surgery in Premier Hospital in East Jakarta.

“He was resting when we came to visit him, although the team did not see any [intravenous] and oxygen tubes connected to the patient’s body,” KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said on Tuesday.

Whether or not investigators would soon be able to question the suspect depended on Setya’s condition on Wednesday, Febri said, quoting the doctors at Premier Hospital.

Also on Wednesday, the KPK is set to face Setya’s pretrial motion challenging its decision to name him a suspect.

Last week, the sole judge in the case, Cepi Iskandar, granted KPK investigators’ request to adjourn the hearing at the South Jakarta District Court.

However, he granted a one-week postponement instead of the three-week delay the antigraft body had asked for.

Investigators have argued that they needed more time to prepare for the pretrial, in an apparent attempt to counter Setya’s move to dodge their investigation.

Setya’s pretrial hearing is set to continue on Wednesday and will be presided by Cepi, who has handled two other pretrial cases in the past, including a motion filed by media mogul-cum-politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo.

At that time, Cepi ruled to reject the pretrial motion.

Calls for Setya to give up his chairmanship at Golkar continue to mount, especially following the announcement of his deteriorating health.

Golkar’s Youth Movement Group (GMPG), which has been a stern critic of Setya’s leadership, has urged Setya to step down so he may concentrate on his health and legal issues.

“He [Setya] must let go of his control over the Golkar Party to focus on himself,” said one of GMPG’s founders, Mirwan BZ Vauly.

He added that Setya’s exit would allow party cadres to assess Golkar’s next move in anticipation of the 2018 regional elections and the 2019 legislative elections.

Critics have argued that the e-ID graft case has negatively affected Golkar’s electability ahead of both races, prompting the party’s executive board to set up a team to investigate and measure the public’s perception of Indonesia’s oldest political party.

Led by the head of Golkar’s coordinating, political and legal affairs division, Yorrys Raweyai, the team is scheduled to thoroughly discuss the matter with a number of pollsters starting from Wednesday.

“We are given 10 days to conclude our investigation before we present the findings at a plenary meeting later,” Yorrys added.