House to investigate corruption at Pertamina despite objections

JAKARTA (JP): Despite strong opposition from the Golkar and Indonesian Military/National Police factions, the House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to establish a special committee investigating alleged corruption at the state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

The decision to exercise its investigative rights was taken during the House plenary session, although there was still no decision about when the team would be formed.

"In this plenary session the House agreed to probe several major corruption cases at Pertamina," House deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa said when closing the plenary session.

The probe was proposed in March by 119 legislators, mostly from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) factions.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman recently disclosed that his office is handling 10 corruption cases in suspicious projects at Pertamina, some of them allegedly involving the family of former president Soeharto.

The House's decision on Pertamina came just one day after it endorsed on Monday the formation of a special committee to probe the Rp 144 trillion (US$13 billion) Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) scandal.

PKB and PDI Perjuangan were also its main sponsors.

Golkar and the TNI/Police factions insisted the corruption cases be handled by law enforcers and not the House itself.

"According to principles of law supremacy, we should leave the inquiry to the police and the prosecutors' office," said Jamaluddin Sahidu from the Golkar Party faction during Tuesday's session.

Golkar was a strong supporter of establishing a similar committee to scrutinize President Abdurrahman Wahid's alleged involvement in the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

TNI/Police faction at that time abstained.

On Tuesday, the TNI/Police faction also highlighted the same reason for rejecting the proposal, saying that the House should await the results of the ongoing hearings between House Commission VIII for environmental, science and technology affairs, and Pertamina about the case.

The faction urged the Attorney General's Office to prioritize the Pertamina cases.

"However, the establishment of another special committee on Pertamina would only increase the workload of the House," the faction spokesperson Rukmini hinted.

The House has increasingly used its rights to investigate a number of high-profile cases, and so far it has set up 20 special committees.(dja)