Is Marzuki Alie Aware of His Controversial Statements?

Meanwhile, political observer Tommy Legowo called on the members of parliament to follow the steps of various public elements who protested against the Marzuki’s statement in a bid to save the credibility of the DPR.

Tommy said the position as House speaker was the mouthpiece of all members of parliament and therefore they should protest against the proposal to dissolve the KPK and forgive the corrupters in an effort to save their their effort to save their face and credibility before the people.

Although Marzuki has admitted that it was his personal opinion, what he has said would certainly have a negative impact on the image and credibility of all members of parliament.

"I think if the members of parliament are aware that their honor and credibility are now at stake because of Marzuki’s performance, they have no choice beside forcing him to resign from his post as House speaker," Tommy said.

Therefore member of Golkar faction at the DPR, Bambang Soesatyo said on Monday that if Marzuki’s statement was based on his own interest, then it was time to build a cross-faction support for a no-confidence motion against the House speaker. But Bambang said Golkar faction at the DPR for the time being did not plan to issue an official protest against Marzuki’s statement on the dissolution of the KPK and the forgiveness of corrupters.

"Anyway we deeply deplore the statement spoken by Marzuki Alie because we are embarrassed to have such a leader," Bambang said.

On a separate occasion, secretary of National Mandate Party (PAN) faction at the DPR, Teguh Juwarno said he was really disappointed by the statement made by Marzuki. Teguh said he could not blindly accept the statement of the House speaker.

"The discourse on the issue of resolving the KPK and forgiving the corrupters should not be interpreted as the wishes the House of Representatives," Teguh said, adding that all 43 members of PAN faction at the DPR were considering an official protest over Marzuki’s statement.

Meanwhile, Bishop Council of Indonesia (KWI) Secretary General Father Benny Susetyo said Marzuki’s statement showed that he was not a statesman.

"We miss a figure of statesman who thinks of the state and nation. The figure who makes such a statement is inappropriate and unfit to be a House speaker," Benny Susetyo said at a press conference at Jakarta Legal Aid Institute office on Monday.