Akbar rebuffs demands to quit House post<\/p>\n
Ainur R. Sophiaan and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Convicted House Speaker Akbar Tandjung seems to have grown more
\nconfident after blocking a move to unseat him in the legislature,
\ndeclaring that the calls from his opponents and the public for
\nhim to resign were "irrelevant".<\/p>\n
Akbar said the demands for his exit from the House's top post
\nlacked good grounds as the legal process in which he was involved
\ndid not prevent him from performing his duties.<\/p>\n
"There is no reason for me to step aside temporarily as I
\nthere is no requirment for me to leave the House as a result of
\nthis legal process," Akbar said while attending the funeral of a
\nsenior Golkar leader in East Java on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Akbar was convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years
\nimprisonment for his role as state secretary\/minister in the
\nmisuse of Rp 40 billion belonging to the State Logistics Agency
\n(Bulog).<\/p>\n
During his trial, Akbar claimed to have spent the money on a
\nfood-for-the-poor program. Later, after Akbar found himself in
\nhot water, all of the money was suddenly repaid to the state.<\/p>\n
Akbar has vehemently denied all wrongdoing and has appealed to
\nthe high court. He says he will go all the way to the Supreme
\nCourt, if necessary.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who chairs the country's second largest party, Golkar,
\nargued that similar situations had arose in other countries.<\/p>\n
He pointed to former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the
\nformer speaker of the U.S. Congress, both of whom were allegedly
\ninvolved in financial impropriety but failed to step down from
\noffice.<\/p>\n
"There have been many cases in other countries where state
\nofficials have been involved in criminal prosecutions and where
\nthey were not forced to step aside," he claimed.<\/p>\n
The calls for Akbar to quit the House speakership have been
\nmounting following the verdict against him earlier this month.
\nRepresentatives of 72 legislators on Monday submitted a petition
\nof no-confidence in Akbar to deputy speaker Soetardjo
\nSoerjogoeritno.<\/p>\n
The legislators hoped their petition would be brought up
\nduring Tuesday's plenary meeting, but Akbar, who presided over
\nthe meeting, refused to discuss the petition, saying that his
\ndecision was in line with the House's internal rules.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang emphasized that there
\nwas no obligation to announce all motions submitted to House
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien
\nRais predicted that Akbar would be able to maintain his
\nchairmanship in the House because legislators were not serious to
\nenforce the maneuver of no confidence against the convict.<\/p>\n
He said the move of the legislators to force Akbar down was
\nhalfhearted. "That is our House. If there are only about 68 out
\nof 500 legislators give support to the maneuver, it means only 12
\npercent," Amien added, implying the mandatory vote of 50 percent
\nplus one to make a meaningful move against Akbar.<\/p>\n
According to Amien, the position of Akbar would be safe until
\na final and binding verdict was handed down.<\/p>\n
Akbar added that he would not ask the Supreme Court to speed
\nup his legal process or to slow down it. He said he hoped the
\ncourt would follow the existing rules. "There must be no pressure
\non my case," Akbar added.<\/p>",
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