Anita Rachman – Senior politicians and analysts on Friday dismissed graft convict Gayus Tambunan's claims of political maneuvering and even CIA involvement in his case as nothing more than diversions from the main issue at hand.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, a Democrat, said all debate on Gayus and the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force was just a small part of the bigger picture that should be revealed. "Gayus is a smart man. He wants to divert one problem to another," Marzuki said.

Gayus, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after he was jailed for seven years for corruption, used the opportunity to lash out against members of the presidentially appointed task force.

For instance, he claimed that Denny Indrayana initially instructed him to flee to Singapore when the scandal over his acquittal last year blew up, and wait until his ex-lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung, was arrested before returning home.

Gayus also claimed the task force forced him to mainly target the Bakrie Group in his allegations, claims the task force members promptly denied.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also said the whole Gayus versus task force story line should be set aside so attention would be focused on the main problem: addressing the judicial and tax mafia that allowed the entire case to occur. "It's a trivial thing, let's look at the real problem," she said.

The comments come as Golkar party lawmakers, particularly Bambang Soesatyo and Nudirman Munir, called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to disband the task force, which they said had accomplished nothing except to tangle the legal system.

"Regardless of whether Gayus's statements [about the task force] are true or not, the president still needs to disband or change [its composition]," Nudirman said on Thursday.

On Friday, Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham backed the calls, insisting that the task force was insignificant. "And in this case, the task force has caused a new problem," he said.

There has long been animosity between Golkar and the task force, which was formed by the president in 2009 to probe allegations of institutional corruption within law-enforcement agencies, fueled largely by twists and turns in the long-running Gayus affair.

Task force member Denny Indrayana has been accused of being politically motivated in attempting to link Gayus's shady tax dealings with companies owned by the family of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Denny testified in court last year that Gayus specifically mentioned Bakrie Group firms among those that benefited from his illicit services. Denny later earned more of Golkar's ire by suggesting Gayus might have met with Aburizal during his illicit trip to Bali in November, when the taxman was supposed to be behind bars.

Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from University of Indonesia, said the new wrangle was part of Gayus's "machinations to pit coalition parties against one another by baiting the Golkar members.

"The Golkar officials falling for it, like Bambang, aren't politically experienced enough to understand the implications of what they say or do in reaction," Arbi said, as quoted by Antara. "This is part of Gayus's game, where he pulls the strings."

Marzuki, for his part, said the focus should be on eradicating the legal mafia. "All law-enforcement institutions must work together," he said. "Please disregard the uniforms, the police and prosecutors, and let's sit together."