Jakarta – Prosperous Justice Party politician Fahri Hamzah on Sunday confirmed that a party stalwart had urged him to step down as deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, as the party drifts away from opposition bloc the Red-White Coalition.
Salim Segaf Al-Jufri, the chief patron of the party better known as the PKS, had argued he should step aside, Fahri told Detik.com on Sunday.
"There was a private conversation with the PKS chief adviser. But because the request was personal and not a decision of the party as an institution, I responded on a personal level as well," Fahri said, declining to elaborate.
Other PKS officials have been more vocal about him stepping down, Fahri said, pointing to vague remarks made to the media.
"I feel the media reports are ways to shape public opinion against me that I have done something wrong. In my own perspective I have never done anything wrong to violate the law or party regulations," he said.
Calls for him to stand down have intensified since colleague Setya Novanto of the Golkar Party resigned from his post as speaker of the House last month. Setya resigned shortly before the House Ethics Council was due to issue a verdict against him for allegedly attempting to extort mining giant Freeport Indonesia out of $4 billion in shares.
Fahri was a vocal supporter of Setya throughout the ethics tribunal, including making a last-minute bid to replace an ethics council member hostile to the speaker – Akbar Faisal of the National Democratic party (Nasdem) – on the day the council convened to discuss the case. Akbar in turn reported Fahri for ethical violations.
PKS chairman Shohibul Iman recently said the party would not defend Fahri during the ethical violation investigation, before adding that the party had launched an evaluation of all members, particularly those holding public office.
Several senior PKS officials have spoken publicly about the evaluation, but none would explicitly identify Fahri as being among the members under scrutiny.
Speculation of a falling-out between Fahri and other PKS officials escalated after party leaders held a private meeting with President Joko Widodo last month – with Fahri noticeably absent.
In response, Fahri criticized Shohibul for demonstrating support for the president's administration, adding that regardless of his party's decision, he would remain loyal to the opposition bloc.