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House ends paralysis after AGO arrests Golkar politician
Jakarta Post - December 5, 2014
The passing was made hours after the Attorney General's Office (AGO) arrested a senior member of Golkar Party, the nation's second biggest party and a member of the opposition camp, for alleged involvement in a graft case.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said passing the amendment would allow the government to permit ministers and other government officials to attend House hearings after the two opposing camps agreed to bury the hatchet by allowing the passing of the law.
"With the passing, the government will attend the hearings held by the House," said Yasonna. "I expect relations between the House and the government will return to normal in January. We're looking forward to a positive partnership."
Political parties under Jokowi's Great Indonesia Coalition had refused to attend hearings unless the opposing camp, the Red-and-White Coalition, agreed to pass the amendment of the MD3 law. The amendment was included in the peace deal sealed by the two rival coalitions earlier in November after a month-long dispute over control of the House.
Under the amendment, the Great Indonesia Coalition will lead several key House commissions, after it was denied in October by the majority Red-and-White Coalition from securing any leadership positions in either the House or the People's Consultative Assembly. Jokowi's coalition will now have 21 out of 64 leadership posts in the House.
The move is seen as a way to prevent the Red-and-White Coalition from taking full control in voting sessions during the meetings of internal bodies and commissions. Previously, Jokowi had said that the instruction for all ministers to skip meetings with lawmakers was meant to avoid confusion, as his coalition had set up its own House leadership, as well as internal bodies, in a move to challenge the Red-and-White Coalition's move to occupy all leading posts at the House.
The passing of the amendment was a surprise after several lawmakers confirmed last week that the Golkar faction in the Legislation Body (Baleg), which was tasked with deliberating the MD3 Law amendment, had declined to support the amendment.
Golkar's refusal came after Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, a NasDem politician, was accused of meddling in the Golkar Party internal conflict by calling on the police not to issue a permit for the party's recent national congress in Bali.
But House speaker Setya Novanto, a Golkar Party senior politician, said after the passing of the law that the amendment approval was a token that Indonesia's democracy was at its best as rivaling camps agreed to unite for the greater good.
"The amendment is a peace accord that has propelled the spirit of togetherness for the nation, as mandated by the Constitution," he said. "It is also a sign for our constituencies that the House and its lawmakers are always listening to their aspirations."
Lawmakers will start their recess tomorrow until mid-January. Setya praised the peace accord after the AGO took the head of Golkar's West Java chapter, Irianto MS Syafiuddin, popularly known as Yance, from his residence in the West Java city of Indramayu early on Friday and brought him to the AGO headquarters in Jakarta.
Irianto is accused of having committed corruption during the land-procurement process for the Kali Adem steam-fueled power plant project when he was Indramayu regent. (ren)
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