Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – Politicians Aziz Syamsudin of the Golkar Party and Ganjar Pranowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have confirmed their absence from Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioning into the e-ID graft case on Tuesday.

They appeared to choose running errands for their political parties elsewhere as they asked to reschedule via letters sent to the antigraft body.

"Aziz said he had to undergo a [Golkar] Party event in Lampung today," KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said on Tuesday. "Thus, he asked to reschedule for June 6 [Wednesday]."

Meanwhile, Ganjar, a former deputy chairman of the House's Commission II on home affairs, which deliberated the project between 2010 and 2012, cited campaign activities for his re-election bid in the upcoming Central Java gubernatorial race as a reason to skip Tuesday's questioning. "He [Ganjar] is preparing for his candidacy," Febri said.

Aziz and Ganjar are among politicians on the list of witnesses to be grilled by the KPK this week in an investigation into the e-ID graft case, which reportedly caused Rp 2.3 trillion (US$165 million) in state losses.

The series of witness questionings kicked off on Monday with former lawmaker Mirwan Amir and five current lawmakers – the PDI-P's Arif Wibowo, Golkar's Agun Gunanjar, Melchias Markus Mekeng, House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo and the Democratic Party's Khatibul Umam – being summoned.

All but Bambang, who cited a tight schedule elsewhere, came to answer the Monday summons. (ipa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/06/05/golkar-pdi-p-politicians-skip-e-id-questionings.html