All 560 members of the House of Representatives are seemingly being held hostage under Novanto’s control, despite his being in jail.
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ANTARA FOTO/Hafidz Mubarak A
This photograph shows a close-up of the letter from House Speaker Setya Novanto, which was displayed on Wednesday (22/11) by House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. In the letter, which Novanto signed on Nov. 21, the e-ID corruption suspect requests that the House Ethics Council not hold a plenary meeting that could remove him from his position as House Speaker.
All 560 members of the House of Representatives are seemingly being held hostage under Setya Novanto’s control, despite his being in jail.
A letter sent to the House leadership from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detention center shows that Novanto, a suspect in the high-profile e-ID graft case, still retained control of the House. In line with Novanto’s wishes, the House Ethics Council (MKD) will not hold a plenary meeting to decide his fate. Novanto has asked the House leadership to give him a chance to “prove my non-involvement” in the e-ID graft case.
The political reality is that the House appears to be granting Novanto’s wishes. An MKD consultation meeting was canceled because not all House faction heads were present, while Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah said the House would not initiate the process to replace Novanto as House Speaker until his pretrial hearing was over. In addition, the MKD will not process allegations that Novanto had violated the House’s code of ethics.
Novanto became House Speaker as part of a single package, along with Fahri Hamzah, Fadli Zon, Taufik Kurniawan and Agus Hermanto, that the Gerindra, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN) and Democratic Party factions had proposed for the House Speaker election on Oct. 1, 2014. Novanto was once forced to resign as House Speaker after the public release of a recording that alleged his involvement in a telephone conversation about an illicit request for shares in mining company PT Freeport Indonesia. He was then replaced by Ade Komarudin. A few months later, however, Novanto regained his position as House Speaker to replace Ade Komarudin.
Novanto’s ability to remain in control of the House highlights, at the very least, his bargaining power at the House. Nevertheless, Novanto’s status as a suspect must not hold sway over the 560 members of the House. The House is a respected institution, and its members are called “your honor”, not “your suspect-ness”. Replacing Novanto as House Speaker should be initiated immediately to prevent the nation from becoming a global laughing stock.
Novanto has also filed a pretrial motion that will begin on Nov. 30. However, do take note that the pretrial ruling will not touch upon the subject of, to borrow Novanto’s words, “proving my non-involvement”. Proving someone’s non-involvement in an ongoing case does not fall within the legal domain of pretrial hearings.
The KPK should accelerate its investigation into Novanto’s suspected wrongdoings and submit his case file to the court. Once this is done, Novanto’s pretrial motion will automatically become null and void. Novanto will have the chance to defend himself in court, while providing space for the MKD and the Golkar Party to finish their work. Regardless of all the debates over articles of the law, it will be more graceful and respectable for Novanto to simply resign.
