Speed is of the essence in the e-ID corruption case involving House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto as a suspect.
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ANTARA/Hafidz Mubarak A
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah shows a letter from Setya Novanto at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (22/11). 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.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Speed is of the essence in the e-ID corruption case involving House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto as a suspect. This is especially necessary to give legal certainty to the case.
Trisakti University Criminal Law lecturer Abdul Fickar Hadjar said the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) should not delay in completing Novanto\'s case file and submit it to the Jakarta Corruption Court as soon as possible. Moreover, on Nov. 30, the South Jakarta District Court was to begin its hearing on the pretrial motion that Novanto had filed, in connection with the KPK\'s renaming him as a suspect in the e-ID case.
In the first pretrial hearing, the South Jakarta District Court\'s judge Cepi Iskandar ruled on Sept. 29 that the KPK\'s naming Novanto as a suspect was invalid.
"I think the KPK has to learn and not fall into the same trap a second time. The KPK has to optimize its professionalism. They already have enough evidence," Fickar said on Wednesday (22/11) in Jakarta.
If the KPK submitted Novanto\'s case file to the corruption court, the pretrial motion would become null and void. This is in accordance with Article 82, Paragraph 1(d) in the Law of Criminal Procedure (KUHAP), which says: "In the event that a case has already been examined by a district court when the assessment of a pretrial motion has not been completed, then the pretrial motion is void."
Based on this provision, the South Jakarta District Court judges turned down on Nov. 2, 2016 a pretrial motion filed by former Regional Representatives Council speaker Irman Gusman, because the KPK had already submitted Iman\'s case file to the corruption court.
Golkar Party executive chairman Nurdin Halid said that if Novanto’s pretrial motion was rejected because that KPK had already submitted his case file, Golkar would immediately replace the House Speaker. The party would also hold an extraordinary national meeting to seek a new Golkar general chairman to replace Novanto.
"As soon as the pretrial motion is voided, the process to replace the DPR speaker will begin immediately. We will not wait for an extraordinary meeting so we don’t waste time," he said.
KPK deputy chairman Alexander Marwata had said earlier that Novanto\'s case documents were 70 percent complete. In response to this, KPK spokesman
Febri Diansyah said, "We do not want to rush, but sacrifice is the substance of the matter. Therefore, we will focus on the strength of the evidence," he said.
On Wednesday, the KPK questioned five witnesses in connection with Novanto’s case: Golkar politician Ade Komarudin, House acting secretary general Damayanti, and businessmen Deniarto Suhartono, Andi Agustinus, and Made Oka.
Meanwhile, since his detention on Nov. 19, the KPK has twice questioned Novanto as a suspect.
No stance yet
As of Wednesday, the House Ethics Council (MKD) was still making efforts to consult with all faction leaders before making a decision on Novanto’s alleged violations of his oath and the House’s code of ethics.
A consultative meeting was initially scheduled for Tuesday (21/11), but the meeting was canceled on the pretext that several faction leaders could not attend. ”It is rescheduled for next week, because there are leaders who have activities outside the House this week," MKD chairman Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said.
The faction leaders’ input is needed for the MKD to verify Novanto’s alleged violations. However, Kompas notes that the MKD has never consulted faction leaders in handling code of ethics violations.
In connection with this, House member Lukman Edy of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction has urged the council to question Novanto immediately. This should have been done as soon as possible and without reference to the Golkar Party’s stance, which has decided to wait for the ruling on Novanto’s pretrial motion.
According to Law No. 17/2014 on the People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR), DPR, Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and Provincial/City Legislative Councils (DPRD), or the MD3 Law, there are two ways to replace a House Speaker. First, the speaker’s political party proposes replacing the speaker. Second, the MKD examines the House Speaker and rules in a plenary session that the speaker has violated his oath and the House’s ethics code.
"As an institution that represents the public, our power is based on public trust. In order to maintain this [trust], we must meet public expectations that the House is not being incapacitated by the legal case surrounding one man," said House member Mardani Ali Sera of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction.
Mardani was disappointed in the ethics council because it had not acted in connection with Novanto\'s case. Moreover, the council’s slow response was akin to fulfilling Novanto\'s request not to begin processing his replacement, which was communicated in two separate letters to the House and the council. This gave the impression that the two letters had influenced the council into not looking into Novant’s alleged ethics violations.
In order to maintain and save the House’s image, former Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie said the MKD needed to take an immediate stance. “The ethics [process] must be quick, it cannot wait [for Novanto\'s pretrial hearing]. The ongoing legal process has nothing to do with the ethics trial,” said Jimly.
Jimly believed that the MKD needed to prove now whether or not the House had been tainted by the e-ID case, particularly as the member who was embroiled in the legal case was the House Speaker. "It must be noted that the position of speaker is not that of a regular member, so that his behavior affects the entire institution," Jimly said.
If it turns out that Novanto had indeed committed ethics violations, he can be sanctioned by dismissing him as House Speaker. The sanction was necessary to save the public trust and the House’s reputation.
