PDIP Legislator Maria Lestari Denies Allegations Of Hasto Assisting In Passing Himself To The DPR Through PAW Procedures

JAKARTA - Member of the House of Representatives from the PDI-P (PDIP) faction Maria Lestari denied the alleged assistance of PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto to pass him to parliament.

He conveyed this after undergoing examination at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Friday, January 17. Investigators have asked for his testimony as a witness.

"There is nothing (to get it out of Hasto, ed). That has been decided by the party court, yes," Maria told reporters.

The Chairperson of the KPK, Setyo Budiyanto, once revealed Maria Lestari during the announcement of the status of suspect Hasto on December 24, 2024.

According to Maria, Hasto met with former General Election Commission (KPU) Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan to fulfill the request regarding the two proposed PAW submitted by the PDIP DPP, namely Maria Lestari Dapil 1 West Kalimantan and Harun Masiku Dapil 1 South Sumatra.

In the 2019 election, Maria Lestari won around 33,006 votes. He then replaced Alexius Akim who was dismissed by the PDI-P and also Michael Jeno who resigned.

Returning to Maria, he did not want to elaborate further on the material for his examination. "Everything can be asked to investigators," he said.

"Later everything can be asked to investigators, yes," he said.

Previously reported, the KPK developed an interim replacement bribery (PAW) case that ensnared former KPU commissioner Wahyu Setiawan and his fugitive, Harun Masiku. Two people were later named as suspects, namely PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto and Donny Tri Istiqomah who are PDIP cadres as well as lawyers.

It didn't stop there, Hasto was also a suspect in the obstruction of the investigation. He is suspected of trying to obstruct the legal process, one of which is by asking Harun to damage his cellphone and run away after the hand arrest operation (OTT) was carried out.