Akbar inquiry hangs in the balance<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The formation of a special House of Representatives inquiry
\ninto alleged misuse of State Logistic Agency (Bulog) funds
\nremains delicately balanced amid growing anxiety that the
\nproposal would be killed off by back room politicking.<\/p>\n
While late night sessions could still tip the balance,
\nanalysts and party officials seem resigned that the House in its
\nplenary session on Monday will reject a motion to set up a
\nspecial committee into the financial scam that implicated its
\nspeaker, Akbar Tandjung, due to the unexpected rapid development
\nof the formal investigation.<\/p>\n
Political observer J. Kristiadi said in Semarang on Sunday
\nthat PDI Perjuangan would not support the special committee but,
\nshould the legal proceedings become hampered, the party would be
\nthe one to initiate such a committee.<\/p>\n
"This is just a move to buy time in order to reach a political
\ncompromise, and the call for the legal process from Megawati was
\nmeant to avoid frictions inside her own party over the special
\ncommittee," Kristiadi said.<\/p>\n
He predicted that PDI Perjuangan would let the legal process
\ncontinue and use the House Commission II on Legal and Home
\nAffairs to supervise the process but would, in the end, support
\nthe committee should the legal process run so slow.<\/p>\n
However, Kristiadi noted that the political process was truly
\nneeded to restore the legislative body's image that was hurt as
\nthey were led by a corruption suspect.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the United Development Party of Reform (PPP-
\nReformasi) Zainuddin MZ said on Sunday in Padang, West Sumatra,
\nthat he believed that PDI Perjuangan would not support the
\nspecial committee, as it could destroy the party.<\/p>\n
He said that PDI Perjuangan was threatened by the possibility
\nof a special congress to replace Megawati should the committee be
\nestablished.<\/p>\n
"It also raises suspicions that what Gus Dur had said was true
\n-- that more than 10 parties were involved in the scam,"
\nZainuddin said, referring to former president Abdurrahman Wahid's
\nearlier statement on the case.<\/p>\n
Golkar Party official Ferry Mursyidan Baldan said on Sunday
\nthat Golkar would stick to its stance of rejecting the committee,
\nsaying that it would only serve to create political instability.<\/p>\n
"We are not allowed to threaten anybody, but it is common that
\nany political action will have political consequences. And if PDI
\nPerjuangan wants to settle the problem, leave it to the legal
\nprocess, as the political decision will only create chaos," Ferry
\ntold The Jakarta Post after the party's meeting.<\/p>\n
The trial of Akbar, also the Golkar Party chairman, is
\nexpected to open on Monday, the time when the House legislators
\nconvene to make a decision on the proposal.<\/p>\n
The influential Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) which, on March 7, stated its support for the
\ninquiry, popularly called a pansus, hinted on Saturday a change
\nof mind due to the speed of the investigation.<\/p>\n
Akbar is alleged to have been involved in the embezzlement of
\nRp 40 billion of non-budgetary funds belonging to the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) when he was the minister\/state secretary
\nin 1999.<\/p>\n
"Our stance is clear since the beginning that we support a
\npansus, provided that the legal process runs in line with our
\nexpectations. If the legal process goes well, we don't need a
\npansus," said Sutjipto, the secretary general of President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's PDI Perjuangan, which holds the most
\nseats in the House.<\/p>\n
After Akbar's detention on March 7, investigators took another
\nweek to draft charges to be heard before the trial. The process
\nnormally needs at least two weeks.<\/p>\n
When the House delayed making a decision as to whether to form
\nthe pansus inquiry team to probe the scandal, five factions were
\nin favor of its formation, and five others against it.<\/p>\n
Political analysts doubted that the House would vote for the
\nmotion.<\/p>\n
"Some 65 percent of House members would say no to the proposal
\non the grounds that the legal process has moved at such an
\nextreme speed," Bachtiar Effendy predicted on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said that support for the pansus would come from small
\nfactions, namely the National Awakening Party, the Democracy and
\nLove Nation Faction, and the Indonesian Unity and Nationhood
\nFaction.<\/p>\n
The recent revelation by former president Abdurrahman Wahid
\nthat Bulog non-budgetary funds also went to other parties,
\nincluding PDI Perjuangan and the United Development Party (PPP),
\nwould stiffen opposition to the pansus, Bachtiar said.<\/p>\n
"Those concerned parties are trying to prevent the possibility
\nthat Golkar would provide damaging evidence to the report that
\nthe two major parties had received Bulog funds, should the pansus
\nbe established," he said, after a political discussion at the
\nPeninsula Hotel here.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, chief patron of Alwi Shihab's National Awakening
\nParty, said last week that some 10 parties received Bulog funds,
\nincluding PDI Perjuangan and PPP.<\/p>\n
While PDI Perjuangan has remained silent about the
\nallegations, PPP chairman and Vice President Hamzah Haz denied
\nAbdurrahman's statement.<\/p>\n
Another political observer, Riswanda Imawan, said that he did
\nnot expect the House to endorse a pansus, unless the legislative
\nbody allowed a secret ballot to decide on the issue.<\/p>\n
"The House members won't be able to exercise their right to
\nvote freely in an open ballot, since they are afraid of their
\nparty's punishment," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, activists of the University of Indonesia's student
\nexecutive board, People's Democratic Party and the Indonesian
\nMuslim Student Movement pledged on Saturday to take to the
\nstreets on Monday to put pressure on the House to set up the
\npansus.<\/p>\n
The groups claimed that they would mobilize 15,000 people,
\nincluding many students.<\/p>",
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