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43 Lawmakers in House Ethics Council’s Sights
Armando Siahaan | September 09, 2010

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ozzo
9:33pm Sep 10, 2010

@Roland: And I think I'm a pessimist.

Valkyrie
5:38pm Sep 9, 2010

Lawmakers in this country behave like they own the nation. I had a bad experience with one.

She did not chide her driver for letting the rear door open whilst I was trying to proceed into a parking lot next to her vehicle. Instead she wound down her windscreen, gave me a dirty look and passed a remark about why I am not patient enough.

This particular lawmaker was an ex TV personality and lives in Cinere.

Bit**!

Roland
1:22pm Sep 9, 2010

What a collection of rather dubious characters is leading this country? No wonder that this great country is getting more and more sucked into a maelstrom of inefficiency and corruption - with no end in sight!

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Jakarta. The House of Representatives ethics council said on Wednesday that it would look into 43 reports of ethical misconduct by lawmakers — including an allegation of rape filed against one.

“There is a report filed against M Nazaruddin, from the Democratic Party, and we will first summon the one who filed the report,” council deputy chairman Nudirman Munirsaid said.

Nazaruddin’s name was raised by a previously unknown NGO, the Indonesian Parliament Observer Society (Komppi), which reported him to police for allegedly raping a woman at a hotel in Bandung during the party’s national caucus in May.

Nudirman, from the Golkar Party, said the council could only investigate if there is a public complaint.

The panel will interview the NGO to ensure that the allegation “is based on accurate data and not just mere slander.” Komppi is a coalition of civil society groups, including the Islamic Association of University Students (HMI). 

HMI chairman Muhammad Chozin Amirrulah confirmed that Komppi submitted the report to the ethics council on Aug. 18. “We filed a report on allegations of the rape of a sales promotion girl in Bandung, perpetrated by a lawmaker,” he said.

The report, which consisted of about five online news clippings as preliminary evidence, was received by Gayus Lumbuun, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Chozin said.

Given the many legal cases against House members, including 26 present and former lawmakers who were recently named bribery suspects in the Miranda Goeltom case, the ethics council is often criticized for being ineffective. 

Other unconfirmed sex scandals have rocked the Democrats, including recent rumors involving Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh.

Senior Democrats have repeatedly said there is no truth to the allegations.

The ethics council will also deal with a case involving Democratic legislator As’ad Syam, who was jailed last month on a Rp 4 billion ($444,000) corruption charge he was convicted of early in 2009.

The council also plans to summon Izul Islam of the United Development Party (PPP) for diploma forgery, and Nurdin Tampubolon of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) and Ratu Munawaroh of the National Mandate Party (PAN), both for skipping six straight plenary sessions.

But ethics council chairman Gayus Lumbuun said Munawaroh had reportedly resigned from the House, making a summons unnecessary as long as a formal resignation letter is received. 

Nudirman said that the ethics council could not summon Democrat legislator Edhie Baskoro, the son of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for allegedly delaying a Garuda Airline flight unless there is a complaint from a member of the public. 

It was reported that the firearms carried by Edhie’s bodyguards had held up security checks as they were about to board a flight from Jakarta to Solo over the weekend.