Four Party Factions Agree to Exercise Right to Investigate

The signing of the right of inquiry in the House of Representatives Vice Chairman Room.

Jakarta, 17 Jumadil Awwal 1438/14 February 2017 (MINA) – The House of Representatives (DPRs) 90 members from four party factions agreed to use DPR’s right to investigate the governments decision to reappoint Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname Ahok, after election leave that they deemed illegal.

“We from the four factions view Basuki’s reactivation as Jakarta governor as going against the mandate of the law and General Elections Commission (KPU) regulations, and therefore, we have proposed exercising the right,” Antara quoted Fandi Utomo from the Democrat Party as saying at the DPR building here on Monday.

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Utomo, along with several other members from the four factions, submitted the proposal to the DPR leadership and was received by deputy speakers: Fadli Zon, Agus Hermanto, and Fahri Hamzah.

Basuki, who is now a defendant in a blasphemy trial, resumed his duties as Jakarta governor after receiving the post back from acting governor Soemarsono on Saturday evening following the end of his election leave.

According to the law, Basuki had to take a leave in connection with his bid to contest election since his term as Jakarta governor had ended on Feb 11.

“This clearly violates the law and KPU regulations since on Saturday, he was still involved in a campaign rally while he is also a defendant,” Utomo noted while referring to Basukis reactivation.

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The deputy chairman of the Houses Commission II remarked that the members of four factions who had gathered at the parliament building here, today, agreed to propose exercising the DPRs right to investigate and had collected 90 signatures of its supporters.

He said those who had put forth the proposal hoped that the DPR leadership would immediately follow up on it.

The four factions that supported the proposal are the Democrat Party Faction, with 42 signatures from its members; the Gerindra Party Faction, with 22 signatures; the Prosperous Justice Party Faction, with 16 signatures; and the National Mandate Party Faction, with 10 signatures. (T/RS05/RS01)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)