TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Setya Novanto returned to his office at the House of Representatives (DPR) building on Tuesday last week, after a lengthy absence due to an alleged illness and being treated at Premier Hospital in Jakarta. The DPR Speaker was unusually coy with reporters, who had been waiting for him since morning.
DPR leaders generally enter via the lobby of the Nusantara III Building, while Setya entered through a door of the Secretariat-General, which was free of reporters. He was seen quickly making his way to the elevator as soon as he got out of a car.
Some Golkar Party officials, such as Aziz Syamsuddin, Bambang Soesatyo, Yahya Zaini, and Nurul Arifin, came to Setya’s office on the third floor a few moments after he arrived. None of them were willing to give any information to reporters after they met with Setya. Setya’s departure from parliament also went unnoticed by the media.
The next day, Setya presided over a plenary meeting of Golkar in Slipi, West Jakarta. He also did not respond to questions from reporters about his pre-trial motion regarding his suspect status in the electronic ID card (e-KTP) case which was rescinded by a judge of the South Jakarta District Court on October 8. Setya had little to say. "I am healthy. After treatment and resting, praise be to God," he said.
On Thursday last week, Setya was back at the DPR. Once again he outsmarted reporters on his arrival. A day later, he announced he was flying to Bali to check on the eruption of Mount Agung.
Tempo sent letters to the three places where Setya Novanto is active: the DPR, the Golkar office in Slipi, and at his home in Kebayoran Baru, to give him a chance to talk about the pre-trial motion, e-KTP corruption, and the possibility of him being named a suspect again in this case. There was no reply to any of those letters. Only his lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, responded to questions by phone with Rusman Paraqbueq from Tempo on Friday night last week.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine