TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Febri Diansyah asserted that there would be no conflict of interests in the investigation into a graft case surrounding the electronic identity cards (e-KTP) procurement project.
Febri made the comment to dismiss House of Representatives deputy speaker Fahri Hamzah's allegation that there was a conflict of interests between KPK chief Agus Rahardjo and the Home Affairs Ministry in the graft case.
"There's no conflict of interests in the case that we're currently investigating," Febri told Tempo on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
Earlier, Fahri alleged Agus for having an interest in the case as the former Government Procurement of Goods and Services Agency (LKPP) head. Fahri also claimed that Agus had interests with business owners. Therefore, Fahri called on Agus to step down from the KPK chief post.
According to Febri, the indictment letter for two defendants of the e-KTP case contains information stating that the LKPP recommended not bundling nine procurement projects in order to avoid unhealthy competitions.
"However, the recommendation was ignored," Febri said.
The KPK started the investigation into the e-KTP case back in 2014. At that time, the KPK just named a Home Affairs Ministry's official, Sugiharto, as a suspect. Two years later, another Home Affairs Ministry's official Irman was also named as a suspect.
KPK's prosecutor presented the indictment for the two suspects to the court on Thursday, March 9, 2017. The prosecutor revealed that dozens of lawmakers were involved in the corruption case that caused Rp 2.3 trillion (US$173 million) in state losses.
Three lawmakers allegedly had a central role in the case are House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto, former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin.
MAYA AYU PUSPITASARI
