JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Vice President Jusuf Kalla has urged the Speaker of the House Setya Novanto, a politician from Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie’s Golkar, to soon resign from the latter’s position at the House of Representatives (DPR) following recent allegation of abusing his power by promising a favor to PT Freeport Indonesia and asking, among others, for the company’s shares in exchange.
Talking to the press at his office on Monday (Dec. 7) afternoon, Kalla said Novanto’s resignation would be good. Kalla, moreover, earlier even said he will take a legal action against Novanto once political process at the the House of Representatives’ ethics council (MKD DPR) complete.
In a different place, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, meanwhile, publicly expressed his anger for the first time over the scandal involving Novanto and businessman Mohammad Reza Chalid.
Other than ethical examination conducted by the MKD, the Attorney General Office (AGO) has already launched their own investigation into the scandal. The AGO has examined Freeport Indonesia’s CEO Rear Air Marshal (ret) Maroef Sjamsoeddin and Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources (ESDM) Sudirman Said as witnesses in this case. The AGO, moreover, has seized Maroef’s mobilephone, in which the original recording of his conversation with Novanto and Reza is stored.
The AGO earlier stated that they will soon summon Novanto, Reza, and other related parties for questioning. (haryantosuharman@yosefardi.com)