Jakarta – Golkar Party executive Ade Komarudin has questioned the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) plan to involve itself in the party's upcoming extraordinary national congress.
KPK deputy chairman Saut Situmorang said on Saturday that the antigraft body may step look the running of the congress following intelligence reports that a large sum of money would be distributed during the congress where a new party chairman is set to be elected.
The KPK deputy chairman said that the antigraft body had reason to believe that illegal practices could take place at the planned congress as such activity had occurred in other political parties in the past.
"The KPK has previously refused [to be involved in politics]. The KPK knows better," said Ade, speaker of the House of Representatives, as quoted by tribunnews.com, recalling previous statements from KPK officials.
Ade, however, said that he agreed to uphold accountability during the congress. "There shouldn't be any evil conspiracies."
Following a long standoff between two rival camps in the Golkar Party, executives of the country's oldest party have agreed to hold the extraordinary meeting before May this year, in which the leaders of the two camps, Aburizal Bakrie and Agung Laksono have been called on not to run in the chairmanship race.
Saut did not rule out the possibility that the KPK could conduct sting operations during the congress, as it had in the past. The KPK previously arrested Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Adriansyah after catching him red-handed accepting money on the sidelines of the party's national congress in Bali.