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House backs off KPK
New speaker: Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (left) poses with newly assigned House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo during a media conference at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">New speaker: Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (left) poses with newly assigned House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo during a media conference at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday. Bambang replaces fellow Golkar politician Setya Novanto, who has been named a suspect in the e-ID corruption case.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
The inauguration of Golkar politician Bambang Soesatyo as the new House of Representatives speaker has led to increased determination from both the party and the legislative body to fight corruption.
Sworn in at a plenary meeting on Monday, Bambang from the outset endeavored to convince the public that he will bring new hope in relation to the House’s stance on the anticorruption issue.
Speaking to journalists after his inauguration, Bambang said his very first and main action would be to immediately halt the work of the House’s inquiry team, which was tasked with investigating the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
He also guaranteed there would be no plans to weaken the antigraft body through the revision of the 2002 KPK Law.
The new House speaker went on to say he would push the inquiry team to immediately come up with soft recommendations for the KPK leaders regarding the latter’s internal improvement.
“We will push the inquiry team to directly make decisions and recommendations for the KPK about what it should do to improve its performance in the future. I guarantee there will be no suggestion or recommendation related to changes in the KPK Law, unless it is the antigraft body itself that asks us to change the law,” said Bambang.
Expected to lead the country’s legislative body until 2019, the Golkar politician said the House had very limited time. “There are many draft laws we have to finish this year. In addition, we are entering a year of politics. We’ll be very busy with regional elections this year as well as the presidential and legislative elections in 2019. It appears that the revision [of the KPK Law] is not our priority,” Bambang went on to say.
It is the fourth time in one period that the House has appointed a new speaker. Bambang’s inauguration ceremony on Monday afternoon marked the start of his tenure, replacing former speaker Setya Novanto, who is currently standing trial for his alleged involvement in the e-ID graft case.
Setya’s suspected key role in the mega corruption case has tainted the image of the House, particularly Golkar.
Bambang was previously among five Golkar lawmakers who sat in the inquiry team before party chairman Airlangga Hartarto decided to withdraw him from the team shortly before his official appointment as the speaker of the House.
The inquiry was launched following the KPK’s aggressive steps to investigate the e-ID graft case.
All this time, Golkar has been the strongest supporter and is even said to be one of the initiators of the inquiry. Many times Golkar argued that the KPK had abused its power.
This is the first time that Golkar has withdrawn its lawmakers from the team. Only four Golkar members remain in the team.
Airlangga has also instructed the Golkar faction to withdraw all party lawmakers from the team if it is unable to finish the recommendations for the KPK by the end of the current sitting period, which is scheduled for Feb. 14. If Golkar retracts all of its members, there will be 14 lawmakers from five factions left in the inquiry team.
The inquiry team’s deputy chairman Taufiqulhadi of the NasDem Party said Golkar could not withdraw its members because it would be ethically unacceptable.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) treasurer Alex Indra Lukman encouraged Golkar to stay in the team until they had finished. Another main undertaking for Bambang is to finish the revision of the 2014 Legislative Institution (MD3) Law, which aims to secure a deputy speaker seat for the PDI-P, the party that won the most votes in the 2014 legislative elections.
As another target, Bambang also pledged to improve the House’s legislative performance, which in recent years had been met with criticism from the public. During 2017, the House only passed six bills out of a total of 52 priority bills, fewer than the 10 bills it passed in 2016, according to data from Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi).
“We hope the partnership between the government and the House can be better,” said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, commenting on the new leader.
