Committee a 'test case' for DPR's credibility<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A noted religious scholar lashed out at legislators on Thursday
\nover their attempts to thwart the establishment of a special
\ncommittee (Pansus) of the House of Representatives (DPR) to
\ninvestigate the high profile Bulog scam involving House Speaker
\nAkbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
\"The DPR's credibility is at stake. The Bulog scam will be a
\ntest case as to whether the House wishes to heed the people's
\naspirations, or whether the members just want to pursue their own
\nshort-term interests,\" Mudji told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Mudji warned that a failure to pursue the scandal, which
\ninvolves the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), along the right
\ntrack would diminish the public's trust in the House.<\/p>\n
Calls have mounted for the House to form a special committee
\nto probe Golkar chairman Akbar, who was declared a suspect by the
\nAttorney General's Office for accepting Rp 40 billion in Bulog
\nfunds illegally disbursed by former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan.<\/p>\n
The calls, however, have fallen on deaf ears, with the
\nreluctance of the legislators to investigate Akbar raising
\nquestions as to their moral integrity.<\/p>\n
Mudji said the establishment of a special committee to probe
\nthe allegations against Akbar was a must if the House wanted to
\nearn the public's trust.<\/p>\n
\"The committee would provide political impetus so as to
\nencourage a serious, transparent and fair investigation into the
\nallegations of corruption made by the Attorney General's Office
\nagainst Akbar,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The DPR's ploy to foil the establishment of the committee
\nwill impede the anticorruption drive in the country,\" Mudji
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Legislator Mochtar Buchori of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) acknowledged on Thursday that
\nlegislators in the House were afflicted by moral turpitude.<\/p>\n
\"The public's assumption that the DPR today will represent the
\npeople's true feelings is false,\" Mochtar told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that in every case, the selfish perspectives of the
\nlegislators prevailed.<\/p>\n
\"When they are about to face a case, they will ask themselves,
\n\"What is my interest in that case? Does this case affect my
\nposition in the DPR?\"<\/p>\n
\"This is ironic, since they ignore the people's interests. If
\nthey are really fighting for the people, they would ask
\nthemselves whether the case in question would affect the lives of
\nthe people and, if it did, they would then fight all out against
\nit,\" he asserted.<\/p>\n
He said that most legislators in the House wanted to protect
\nAkbar for fear that he (Akbar) would make public the corruption
\ncommitted by fellow legislators.<\/p>\n
\"Because if Akbar is found guilty, he will reveal to the
\npublic the fact that all of the parties received the Bulog
\nmoney,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A Golkar executive revealed recently that all political
\nparties had received a share of the Rp 40 billion in Bulog funds,
\nexcept for the People's Democratic Party and the Justice Party.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/committee-a-test-case-for-dprs-credibility-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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