Anita Rachman – House Speaker Marzuki Alie announced on Monday that the House of Representatives was suspending all ongoing activities related to the construction of the controversial new office building.

Results of the tender pre-qualification phase would also be canceled, the speaker said in a press conference after meeting with Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto.

The ministry has recommended that the building be scaled back from the original 36-story design to just 26, slashing the budget from Rp 1.13 trillion to Rp 777 billion.

According to the ministry, 26 stories should be enough to accommodate lawmakers' needs, in addition to maximizing the use of Nusantara I, the office building currently used by lawmakers. Marzuki said he had been surprised to hear that a 26-story structure would suffice.

"How come there are these two different calculations?" he asked. "We must find out who calculated this. If it's from the Public Works Ministry then [they] should be sanctioned if they're trying to play games [with the House]. The same thing also goes for lawmakers and consultants."

He also pointed out the possibility of some mark-ups. Because of these, Marzuki said the House was officially suspending the construction process and canceling all tender results.

However, Marzuki said it would still take a Household Affairs Committee (BURT) meeting to decide on whether the House would completely drop the project. "I cannot answer that. Let's wait," he said.