REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A politician of the Golkar party Ahmad Doli Kurnia said the involvement of a number of the Golkar cadres in the Special Committee of Inquiry Right on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has damaged the image of the party.

"Internal survey showed that Golkar would garner only 11 percent of the votes if elections are held today, shrinking from 14.75 percent in the 2014 general elections. Around 67 percent of the decline was caused by the electronic-ID card corruption case," Doli said here on Monday.

KPK is investigating the e-ID card corruption case in which many lawmakers including Golkar lawmakers are implicated. Setya Novanto, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and General Chairman of the country's second largest party, is even said to have played a key role in the alleged embezzlement of around Rp2.5 trillion of the fund for the e-ID card procurement project.

Doli said Golkar lawmakers among the members of the Pansus have also issued unpopular statements such as the idea of freezing KPK.

The statement clearly hurt the image of Golkar, he said, adding, the Pansus chaired by the Golkar faction has faced growing rejection from the public.

He said the longer the e-ID card corruption case left as a public issue, the worst the impact on Golkar, he said.

Pansus marks a conflict between the House of Representatives and KPK. It was formed after KPK rejected a request of the Commission II of the House to release the result of legal investigation of Miryam S. Harijani, a former lawmaker allegedly received bribe funds to be distributed among the lawmakers.

Miryam is already detained by KPK on charge of giving false testimony at corruption court when she stood as a witness.

Miryam withdrew her statements in the dossiers prepared by KPK, saying she was forced by her KPK investigators to make the statements that she had distributed bribe money she received from a suspect in the e-ID card corruption case among a number of lawmakers.

However, a CCTV video, confirmed by experts, showed no signs of pressure by KPK investigators, leading to her arrest for allegedly giving false testimony.

The Pansus demand KPK to allow Miryam to attend a meeting of the committee but KPK also turned down the request saying it still questioned the legal status of the committee.

The Pansus is represented by a number of factions with members implicated in the big corruption case including the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Nasdem, Gerindra, PAN, PPP, and Hanura

Pansus attempt to use police force to drag Miryam from KPK's detention center also failed. 

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