Several members of the parties walked out because chairman of the DPR`s plenary meeting announced the approval of the inquiry despite the objections.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Factions of Gerindra, National Awakening (PKB) and Democrats Party (PD) in the House of Representatives (DPR) have objected to a plan to exercise inquiry right on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the electronic-Identity (e-ID) card corruption case.

Several members of the parties walked out because chairman of the DPRs plenary meeting announced the approval of the inquiry despite the objections, at the Parliament Building, here, Friday.

Ahmad Muzani, Chairman of Gerindra Faction, regretted the move by the chairman. He believed the chairman should have postponed the meeting and allowed lobbying prior to making a decision.

Gerindra decided to walk out, as it did not agree with the unilateral announcement on the approval of the inquiry.

He said Gerindra would lobby with other factions to cancel the decision regarding the inquiry on KPK.

Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, secretary of the PKB faction, said his factions members also walked out in protest against the DPR chairman who did not accommodate the concerns of those objecting to the inquiry.

"Yes, I am very disappointed because the chairman of the meeting did not follow the existing mechanism," he remarked.

During the meeting, Erma Suryani Ranik, legislator representing the Democratic Party (PD), read out her partys stance regarding the inquiry on KPK.

She stated her party was against the inquiry because it could weaken the KPK, and it was coming at a wrong time.

Her party believed that KPK must have extraordinary authorities to effectively fight corruption practices, she stressed.

The public, however, must monitor the KPK to make sure that it works fairly and indiscriminately in its fight against corruption, she added.

Earlier, the Justice Prosperous Party (PKS) also said that it objected to the inquiry on KPK.

Fahri Hamzah, the chairman of the DPR plenary session, Friday, announced that the meeting approved a move by several lawmakers, particularly from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Golkar and the National Democrats (Nasdem) parties to exercise inquiry right on the performance of the KPK.

The motion came after the anti-graft agency rejected a request earlier by the Law Commission of the DPR to hand over a recorded copy of the dossiers of lawmaker Miryam S. Haryani, who has been implicated in a Rp5.9 trillion scandal over the procurement of e-ID cards.

Based on the dossier read by the KPK prosecutor in a court session earlier, more than 50 lawmakers, high-ranking government officials and businessmen were implicated in the scandal.

Two officials of the Home Affairs Ministry, a businessman and a former legislator involved in the scandal, are now facing trial. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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