Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The House of Representatives' special committee tasked with investigating the government's fuel price rise policy has become enveloped in a fury of political maneuvering, including pleas to summon the President for questioning.
Each faction represented in the committee has produced its own list of officials to be summoned for questioning.
Some, notably the National Awakening Party (PKB), have gone so far as to summon President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former presidents Megawati Soekarnoputri and Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
The factions said the four were behind the policies that had led to increases in fuel prices. Golkar Party and the Democratic Party rejected the proposal to summon Yudhoyono and Kalla, while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) blocked a move to question Megawati, instead suggesting the committee focus on cracking down on misappropriations in the oil and gas sector. Misuse of funds has reportedly led to more than Rp 200 trillion (US$22 billion) in state losses.
Inquiry committee member Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P said asking the President or former presidents to explain oil policies would shift attention from mismanagement in the sector.
"Summoning those leaders would only mean that we would politicize the inquiry process. We're better off sticking to targeting misappropriation in the oil sector, which has generated low output and huge recovery costs," Ganjar said.
Drajat Wibowo of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the move to summon Yudhoyono and his predecessors was a political ploy by the factions to protect their leaders from being questioned.
"The persistence of Golkar and the Democratic Party to summon Megawati, for instance, is just a move to cancel out a move by the PDI-P and other parties to question Yudhoyono and Kalla. Probably, the motive behind the PKB's demand to summon those leaders is to protect Gus Dur," he said.
In the end, Drajat said, no leaders would be summoned. Drajat said efforts to summon the leaders would only waste the committee's time and energy, and there was no guarantee the efforts would be successful.
"We'd be better off prioritizing the collection of data and facts on misappropriation, and then summon related officials, including people from BPMigas and Pertamina or Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro," Drajat said.
Committee member Azhar Romli of Golkar Party said the committee members first needed to improve their understanding of the sector by summoning experts and officials from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
A BPK audit of government income statements from 2005 to 2007 revealed that Rp 120 trillion in oil revenues went unreported and was spent outside the state budget mechanism.
The BPK also found in its audit for 2006-2007 that BPMigas overpaid Rp 40 trillion in recovery costs to contracted companies.
They also calculated that misappropriations of oil imports and overpaid recovery costs had cost the state at least US$2.1 billion and $2 billion in 2006 and 2007, respectively.