House to investigate corruption at Pertamina despite objections
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)