A lesson from Akbar<\/p>\n
Soeryo Winoto, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who is also the
\nchairman of the Golkar Party, to three years in jail -- a year
\nless than what prosecutors demanded -- for corruption two weeks
\nago.<\/p>\n
The verdict is in fact a national tragedy.<\/p>\n
People expected that the verdict would have dealt a harsh blow
\nto the DPR, Golkar and Akbar as a person. But this has not
\nhappened. The House is finding it difficult to make Akbar step
\ndown from his seat, leaving a number of factions to merely appeal
\nto him to leave the post.<\/p>\n
Legally, there is no way to make Akbar vacate his House seat,
\ndespite the court verdict.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) faction, which dominates the House with its 153
\nmembers, has failed to show more vigor in supporting moves to
\nunseat Akbar from the speaker's chair. Meanwhile, PDI
\nPerjuangan's initiative -- supported by the National Awakening
\nParty (PKB) -- to arrange a petition against Akbar has been
\nconsidered a sham by observers. In such a condition the House is
\nwell on its way to a critical point where people's trust in it is
\nfurther eroding.<\/p>\n
Akbar is preparing an appeal to the high court, meaning that
\nthe verdict against him is too weak legally to send him to jail
\nor to ban him from traveling abroad. According to Law No. 4\/1999,
\nthe court verdict has yet to be final and binding.<\/p>\n
The law says that the House speaker will be dishonorably
\ndismissed if the court issues a final and binding verdict against
\nhim. Meanwhile, the Golkar Party, notorious for securing former
\npresident Soeharto's long tenure, is not embarrassed to have a
\nconvicted leader. The party officials have demonstrated their
\ndiehard support to retain Akbar. It was somewhat surprising to
\nhear statements from Golkar officials calling Akbar's case an
\naccident.<\/p>\n
Banners supporting Akbar fly in many places around town.<\/p>\n
The political party has clearly seen the case only from a
\npolitical view, insisting that the legal process against Akbar is
\nmerely part of a scenario to eliminate him and to vandalize the
\nparty's image. No wonder deputy Golkar chairman Fahmi Idris said
\nthat efforts to remove Akbar from his seat as DPR speaker could
\nundermine political stability in the country. He did not
\nelaborate further on that statement.<\/p>\n
Support for Akbar from Golkar members is not surprising as
\nmany Golkar members still rely on Akbar for their fate.<\/p>\n
So while the House has neither the guts nor the will to unseat
\nAkbar, Golkar members have also been persistent to retain Akbar.
\nOnly Akbar can make this decision. But all the signs indicate
\nthat Akbar has no intention to quit the DPR's top post.<\/p>\n
Braving escalating demands for him to step down as House
\nspeaker, Akbar left for Hanoi, Vietnam to lead the Indonesian
\nlegislators' delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Organization
\nconference.<\/p>\n
He said he saw no reason to cancel the trip or to restrict his
\ntravels abroad, because \"I haven't accepted the court's verdict
\nand have filed for an appeal\".<\/p>\n
Akbar could have demonstrated his statesmanship to his party
\nmembers and supporters by relinquishing his seats both at the
\nHouse and at Golkar, and tell supporters to accept the reality
\ngallantly, while awaiting the high court's response to his
\nappeal.<\/p>\n
However, this has not happened and is unlikely to happen. This
\nclearly indicates that ethics and morality are no longer relevant
\nin our society.<\/p>\n
The fact that Akbar is appealing and that the court verdict
\nhas yet to become final and binding is true. But legal
\nproceedings, which led to the court's conclusion that Akbar is
\nguilty of embezzling Rp 40 billion in state funds, cannot be
\ntaken for granted.<\/p>\n
When, for many people money is so hard to come by but
\nnecessary for their survival, an amount, such as Rp 40 billion --
\nwhich the court said was swindled by a group of people, including
\nAkbar -- is a tremendous and unimaginable amount.<\/p>\n
The verdict has raised hopes that Akbar deserves the jail
\nsentence handed down to him. Far from being a mere legal issue,
\nit is now one that affects the people's sense of justice,
\nmorality and social responsibility of those involved in the
\ngraft. It is a blatant reality that Akbar and his supporters have
\nonly been leaning on legal aspects, while ignoring morality and
\nlacking shame.<\/p>\n
By constantly referring to mere legalities, Akbar and Golkar
\nare obviously trying to teach the public \"how to respect the
\nlaw\". This seems to be how Akbar and his supporters translate the
\noutdated jargon that Indonesia is a country that respects the law
\n(negara hukum).<\/p>\n
For the international community, this is no longer relevant
\nfor Indonesia -- one of the world's most corrupt countries. The
\nundeniable reality is the unresolved human rights violations, the
\nchaotic legal system and corrupt officials.<\/p>\n
Now the world will be even more surprised upon learning that
\na politician convicted of embezzlement can continue to lead a
\nrespected and honored institution such as the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
Once again, the ball is in Akbar's hands. He has, however,
\nasserted his image as a typical Indonesian leader, who will fight
\nto the end to secure his position and reputation as a leader, but
\nnot as a human who respects the common sense of justice and
\nmorality.<\/p>\n
By defying this public sense of justice, Akbar is also denying
\nsocial responsibility as one of the country's top leaders.<\/p>\n
Akbar and Golkar may think that what they are doing is part of
\ntheir strong commitment to uphold the law. But deep in the
\npublic's mind what is happening is just plain opposition to
\ndecency.<\/p>\n
In the end, history will record that morality, the people's
\nsense of justice, decency and social responsibility have been
\nviolated by one of the country's leaders in the name of the law.<\/p>",
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