Ezra Sihite, Agus Triyono & Carlos K.Y. Paath – After vowing last week to replace the imported furniture at the heart of a controversy over the costly bill to renovate a meeting room, the House of Representatives said on Tuesday that it couldn't do it just yet.

Jaka Winarko, a spokesman for the House Secretariat, which has sparked a massive public outcry over its handling of the Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) project, said the only things at this point that could be replaced were the chairs. Even then, however, the plan to replace them on Tuesday fell through because of technical reasons, he said.

"The secretariat has agreed to replace the chairs, but we can't do it just like that," Jaka said. "We have to hold discussions and negotiations first with the contractors and suppliers."

The 85 chairs have been the focal point of the public outrage over the renovation plan. They were imported from Germany and cost Rp 24 million each, although online furniture stores list that exact model for just half the price.

The House Budget Committee, for which the meeting room is being renovated, last week conceded to replacing the chairs and other imported furniture with cheaper, locally made products. "It has been agreed that all [furniture] will be replaced with high-quality domestic goods," Siswono Yudo Husodo, the committee deputy chairman, said last Thursday.

However, Jaka and Muhammad Prakosa, the House Ethics Council chairman, said that not all the furniture and fittings would be changed. "For now, only the chairs will be replaced," Jaka said.

Prakosa said items such as the three video wall displays and wall-to-wall carpeting would remain in place.

"Well, the carpet's already been laid, so we'll just leave it," Prakosa said. "If we replace the video walls, there won't be much of a difference [in the cost], so we'll just leave that as well."

However, he said the sound system would be replaced. "There's two concepts we won't stand for in this matter. The first is 'luxury' and the second is 'imported,'" Prakosa said.

The costly project, along with other instances of exorbitant spending by the House, has been reported by House Speaker Marzuki Alie to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate.

Yahdil Abdi Harahap, a member of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said it was important that the investigation proceed, even if the House was now trying to slash the cost of the project. "Replacing the furniture won't make up for any violations that may have occurred."

[Additional reporting from Suara Pembaruan.]