Update: Reuters is now reporting that, less than an hour after saying Setya was stepping down as speaker, Fahmi Idris retracted his statement and said that Setya was not resigning and that he still has the backing of Golkar.
Indonesia’s House Speaker Setya Novanto has resigned following allegations of shady dealings with gold and copper mining giants PT Freeport Indonesia.
The resignation of the Golkar politician was confirmed by a senior official in the party today.
“Setya Novanto has resigned as speaker of the house but he still remains a member of parliament,” said Fahmi Idris, a senior Golkar official, as quoted by Reuters.
The House Ethics Council launched a probe against Setya Novanto recently after he allegedly misused President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s names to secure shares for himself in contract re-negotiations with PT Freeport Indonesia.
Setya denied the allegations, but faced an overwhelming barrage of criticism from the government, as well as the public, who demanded that he step down as House Speaker.
Setya Novanto also caused another kind of controversy back in September, when he appeared to show his support for Donald Trump in the Republican Party and US presidential race.
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