TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
PDI-P on defensive over graft scandal
Members of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) appear to have closed ranks as the graft scandal involving at least one of its members drags on
Change Size
M
span>Members of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) appear to have closed ranks as the graft scandal involving at least one of its members drags on.
Instead of disavowing bribery suspect Harun Masiku, who has been named a fugitive, party bigwigs have seemed keen on defending the PDI-P politician, even as more party members get caught up in the case.
“PDI-P higher-ups are trying to ensure that the party is not brought down by this case by taking the bullet [for Harun],” Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The party is deeply entangled in the case because it pertains to a dispute between the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the PDI-P over who should take over a House of Representatives seat left vacant by deceased PDI-P politician Nazaruddin Kiemas of the South Sumatra I electoral district. The PDI-P had requested that the seat be given to Harun, even though he received only the fifth-most votes, behind four other PDI-P members. Harun has since been accused of bribing KPU member Wahyu Setiawan in exchange for being named a House member.
Ever since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) made the first arrests in the case earlier this month, the party has been on the defensive. A few days after the KPK’s first arrests on Jan. 8, the PDI-P’s legal team held a press conference objecting to the KPK’s use of the term “OTT” or raid and defending its endorsement of Harun as a House member.
The team also made a string of highly publicized visits — first to the KPU to discuss the technicalities of the case, then to the KPK’s supervisory council to file a complaint about investigators who allegedly tried to search the party’s offices and then to the Press Council for a “consultation” regarding “harmful” media coverage of the case.
Law and Human Rights Minister and senior PDI-P politician Yasonna Laoly has since been accused of obstructing justice by insisting that Harun had been out of the country since Jan. 6, even though CCTV footage shows Harun arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Jan. 7. Immigration officials later confirmed that the footage was
accurate.
On Friday, PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto doubled down on the party’s apparent defense of Harun, even after the KPK questioned him for about five hours.
Hasto cited Harun’s “good track record” and the fact that he had been awarded with a prestigious Chevening Scholarship from the government of the United Kingdom as two of the reasons why the PDI-P wanted him to get a House seat.
Hasto also encouraged Harun to turn himself in to the KPK, saying that Harun should not be afraid because the PDI-P’s legal team, which was established last week, had gathered enough evidence to prove that Harun was a victim in the case.
“According to a thorough study conducted by our legal team, Harun was a victim of the misuse of authority by another suspect. We have told our members not to commit any crimes, including bribery, if they want to be part of the party,” he said.
Ujang contrasted the PDI-P’s response to the case with that of the Democratic Party regarding the Hambalang graft scandal during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s second term.
Several high-ranking Democratic politicians — including party executive board chairman Anas Urbaningrum and party treasurer Nazaruddin — were found guilty of corruption surrounding the construction of a sports complex in Hambalang, West Java.
After the initial arrests by the KPK, the Dems soon turned against each other, with Nazaruddin eventually giving out information that was used to convict his fellow party members, while Anas and Yudhoyono openly sniped at each other.
“The PDI-P seemed to learn from the experience of the Democrats, whose electability has never really recovered since the scandal,” Ujang said. “The PDI-P is trying to control this so that it doesn’t spread.”
Prior to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s first presidential win in 2014, the PDI-P was in the opposition for 10 years, as detailed in the Post’s special report, and Ujang said that the party would not want to lose its hard-earned power.
“If Harun is arrested without certain preparations, he might ‘sing’ and start naming a lot of other people in the party,” he said.
The PDI-P has been adamant that it was not involved in any wrongdoing and that the party was within its rights to name Harun as a replacement for the late Nazaruddin. (glh)
