Gus Dur rejects memorandum<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Contrary to expectations that his response would
\nbe conciliatory, President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected on
\nWednesday the House of Representatives (DPR) memorandum of
\ncensure and maintained that he was innocent.<\/p>\n
\"Allow me to convey my response with an apology that I cannot
\naccept the House memorandum because it is not constitutionally
\nvalid,\" Abdurrahman told the DPR plenary session.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that in this case I am legally not guilty, but I
\nwould still like to apologize for being uncooperative (with the
\nDPR) since I feel that I have been cornered from the beginning,\"
\nthe President said.<\/p>\n
In his short introductory speech, Abdurrahman, who is
\npartially blind, said that his 15-page response would be read by
\nJustice and Human Rights Minister Baharuddin Lopa.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's vision was impaired due to the combined effects
\nof diabetes and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
The DPR censured Abdurrahman on Feb. 1 after a special
\ncommittee probing two financial scandals found that the President
\nmay have had a role in them.<\/p>\n
The scandals center on the alleged misappropriation of Rp 35
\nbillion (US$3.5 million) from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
\nand on the alleged misuse of a US$2 million donation from the
\nsultan of Brunei.<\/p>\n
In the response, Abdurrahman again denied all allegations of
\nhis involvement in the two scandals and then repeated his earlier
\nargument that the House special committee was illegal since it
\nwas not registered at the State Gazette as required by a 1954
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
The President said, however, that \"by responding to the
\nmemorandum, the legality of the House special committee is no
\nlonger an issue\".<\/p>\n
\"The first memorandum from the DPR is a political reality,\"
\nAbdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
He then reiterated his belief that the issuance of the House
\nmemorandum was \"motivated by ambitions to topple the President
\nrather than to issue a warning\" over his leadership.<\/p>\n
Quoting a statement from senior legal expert Satjipto
\nRahardjo, Abdurrahman said that \"the current House memorandum is
\nno longer a mechanism to warn the President but a means to pass
\npolitical judgment against the President due to the hostile
\npolitical climate.\"<\/p>\n
The President's statement came before leaders of major
\nfactions at the DPR said later in the day that they rejected
\nAbdurrahman's defense and that the issuance of a second
\nmemorandum of censure against the President was only a matter of
\ntime.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said later that the President's
\nresponse would be debated by the House during a plenary session
\non April 30 after each faction in the House had studied it.<\/p>\n
April 30 was the deadline for Abdurrahman to respond to the
\nfirst memorandum.<\/p>\n
A second memorandum could be issued by the DPR if it considers
\nthe President's response to the first memorandum unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n
If the reply to the second memorandum, a month later, is also
\ndeemed unsatisfactory, the DPR could call for the convening of a
\nspecial session of the People's Consultative Assembly, which has
\nthe power to impeach the President.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said further in his reply that he is ready to
\nresign if he is proven to have violated the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"I do not object to being criticized, being censured or even
\nbeing asked to step down as long as all the constitutional
\ncriteria and procedures have been met,\" Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
He said that the DPR's decision to issue the memorandum of
\ncensure against him was unfair as he had not been proven to have
\nreally violated the Constitution and the state guidelines.<\/p>\n
The report of the House special committee on the scandals,
\nused as the basis of the memorandum, had only concluded that the
\nPresident \"could be suspected of having played a role\" in Bulog
\nscandal, and \"had given inconsistent statements\" on the Brunei
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman also denied media reports that he had ever
\nappointed lawyer Indra Sahnun Lubis to represent him in the two
\nfinancial scandals.<\/p>\n
\"Indra Sahnun Lubis has been quoted by the media as saying
\nthat he has been authorized by the President to file a lawsuit
\nagainst the House special committee,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I have reprimanded him for his claim and anyone can ask him
\nwhether or not he really has been given the power of attorney on
\nmy behalf,\" Abdurrahman added.<\/p>\n
The President said that he had appointed lawyer Luhut M.P.
\nPangaribuan to represent him in the two financial scandals.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Luhut has been appointed not to file a lawsuit against
\nthe House special committee but to represent me if the corruption
\ncharges against me are taken to court,\" Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
Also present in the House plenary session on Wednesday were,
\namong others, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Coordinating
\nMinister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono, Defense Minister Mahfud M.D, Coordinating
\nMinister for the Economy Rizal Ramli, the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI) Chief Adm. Widodo A.S., National Police Chief Gen. Surojo
\nBimantoro and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman arrived at the DPR amid tight security at 9:55
\na.m. on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
His car passed through a two-meter high interlocked plastic
\nfence and rolls of razor wire set up to prevent protesters from
\nstorming into the compound as hundreds of police officers stood
\nguard.<\/p>\n
Police checked incoming vehicles for weapons.<\/p>\n
However there was no sign of the thousands of supporters of
\nAbdurrahman who were rumored to be planning to stage a rally at
\nthe House to express their support for the beleaguered President.<\/p>\n
More than 450 of the DPR's 500 members were present at the
\nplenary session.<\/p>\n
More than 9,000 police officers have been mobilized across the
\ncapital to contain feared street clashes between supporters and
\nopponents of Abdurrahman.<\/p>\n
At the end of the meeting, Achmad Farhan Hamid, a legislator
\nof the National Mandate Party (PAN), interrupted and called on
\nthe President to calm his supporters and prevent them from
\nintimidating the President's opponents.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Abdurrahman's supporters, mostly from East Java
\nwhich is known as the stronghold of the President, have been
\nstreaming into the capital over the past few days to express
\nsupport for the President.<\/p>\n
Some of the supporters had vowed that they will fight to the
\ndeath if Abdurrahman is ousted from the presidency. (byg\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-rejects-memorandum-1447893297",
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