Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Eight members of the House Ethics Council who took part in the controversial trip to Greece are facing possible suspensions after 10 nongovernmental organizations on Thursday demanded an investigation into the possibility that the lawmakers used state funds for a leisure side trip to Turkey.
"We have the itinerary here which states that they spent a day and a half in Turkey. What did they do there? " asked Ray Rangkuti, the director of the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), one of the 10 NGOs that presented the itinerary to the Ethics Council on Thursday. "We even heard that they had belly dancers entertain them while they were in Turkey," Ray added.
The NGOs asked the House Ethics Council to investigate eight of their own members: Nudirman Munir (Golkar), Salim Mengga (Democrat), Darizal Basir (Democrat), Chairuman Harahap (Golkar), Anshori Siregar (Prosperous Justice Party), Abdul Rosaq Rais (the National Mandate Party), Usman Ja'far (the United Development Party), and Ali Maschan Moesa (the National Awakening Party).
Ethics Council chairman Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the eight lawmakers are facing possible suspensions because of the complaint.
"The House Ethics Council's procedure states that the House Speakers should demand faction leaders to suspend their members in the Ethics Council following a complaint, replace them with other members, and conduct an investigation," he said.
"There is no other option [but a suspension]. We will discuss the process in our weekly meeting next Thursday. The House Speakers must also discuss this."
But House Speaker Marzuki Alie said House leaders will meet first to discuss the report, adding that he was not sure whether the eight members of House Ethics needed to be suspended. "We will see later," he said.
Sebastian Salang, from the Forum of Citizens Concerned about the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), said they received data from the House Secretariat stating that the eight members checked out from a hotel in Greece on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m. and arrived later that day in Istanbul.
On Thursday, the itinerary stated, the eight lawmakers did not have a clear schedule. They checked out of the Istanbul hotel at noon on Friday and boarded a flight to Singapore at 11.25 p.m. "What did they do in Istanbul? They had no agenda. They said that they wanted to focus on Greece? But why then there was Istanbul?" Ray asked.
The Greece trip has been controversial from the start, having been announced at the height of public criticism of the lawmakers' comparative study trips abroad.
The Greece jaunt was even further criticized after the House Ethics Council told reporters prior to departure that they were out to study ethics issues, such as how to stop legislators from ranting or mocking others in a meeting, how to stay ethical and within regulations, and whether a House Speaker can dismiss a plenary meeting unilaterally.
Ali Maschan Moesa told the Globe after the trip that he and colleagues had met with the Greek parliament speaker, its Greek counterpart, a regional representatives council and experts from Indianapolis University during their visit.
Speaking to the Globe on Thursday, he refused to comment on either the NGO complaints or what the lawmakers did in Istanbul, and simply denied the rumor about the belly dancers.
"No, no, there was no such thing. Just ask Pak Nudirman," Ali said, referring to Nudirman Munir, the council deputy chairman who led the visit. But when sought for comment on Thursday, Nudirman only said: "I don't know anything about it yet. We will see on Monday."
Chairuman previously told the Globe that they needed to go to Istanbul because they took a plane that needed to transit in the country.
Aside from LIMA and Formappi, the NGOs that filed the complaint on Thursday included the Indonesia Budget Center, Transparency International Indonesia and the Indonesian Voters Committee (Tepi).