House leaders rule Akbar will retain speakership<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite his graft trial, Golkar Party chairman won one of the
\nbattles of his political career as leaders of the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) dismissed on Tuesday debates over his
\nstatus as speaker of the legislative body.<\/p>\n
Following a two-hour internal meeting, three deputy House
\nspeakers announced that Akbar would retain his position in the
\nHouse and they would take on his duties while he was in the
\ncustody of the Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
Attending the meeting were Tosari Widjaja of the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP) faction, A.M. Fatwa of the Reform
\nfaction, and Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) faction. Another deputy Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction
\nis on an official visit to Morocco for an Inter-Parliamentary
\nUnion (IPU) conference.<\/p>\n
\"The meetings in the House will proceed as usual and will be
\npresided over by one of us,\" Tosari told a media conference.<\/p>\n
Akbar has moved closer to being able to evade an investigation
\nby the House when the House again rescheduled the decision to
\npass a motion to set up a special committee of inquiry into
\nAkbar's graft case until May. Barring any unforeseen
\ncircumstances, the House will vote against the motion after
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri, who chairs the influential PDI
\nPerjuangan, indicated her rejection of the inquiry.<\/p>\n
According to Tosari, the decision was based on Article 21 of
\nthe House's internal regulations which state that if the House
\nspeaker is unable to carry out his duties, the deputies will take
\nover the tasks.<\/p>\n
Based on a consensus between the deputy speakers, economic and
\nfinancial issues will be handled by Tosari, political and
\nsecurity affairs will be in the hands of Soetardjo, social
\naffairs will be tackled by Muhaimin, and Fatwa will be in charge
\nof people's welfare.<\/p>\n
Tosari denied allegations that the detention of Akbar had
\nstalled the work of the House.<\/p>\n
\"We will give an explanation to legislators regarding the
\nposition of House speaker at the plenary meeting on March 28,\" he
\nsaid, referring to the session which will mark the closing of the
\ncurrent sitting. The House will resume activities in mid-May.<\/p>\n
At a plenary meeting on Monday, a legislator from PDI
\nPerjuangan Panda Nababan questioned the function of Akbar
\nfollowing his detention on March 7.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who also chairs Golkar Party, was detained to
\nprecipitate the investigation into his alleged involvement in the
\nmisappropriation of Rp 40 billion in funds belonging to the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) when he was the minister\/state secretary
\nin 1999.<\/p>\n
Since the arrest, debates have been rife among legislators
\nover whether they should appoint a replacement for Akbar.<\/p>\n
PKB had appeared to spearhead the talks on the dismissal of
\nAkbar from the top legislative post. Some other legislators
\nrecommended that Akbar should be suspended and be non-active
\nuntil he is convicted.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislators, however, defended their leader, saying
\nthere was no regulation whatsoever that can force Akbar to
\nrelinquish his post.<\/p>\n
Muhaimin claimed on Monday that the detention of Akbar had
\naffected the House's performance. But he was silenced when Tosari
\ndismissed his opinion.<\/p>\n
Apart from discussing the internal House activities, the
\nmeeting on Tuesday also touched on plans to continue deliberation
\nof the bill on the presidency, regulations against female
\nstudents wearing Muslim head scarves in school and the poor
\nperformance of legislators. Tosari, however, did not elaborate on
\nthese topics.<\/p>\n
Separately, Vice President Hamzah Haz, who is also PPP
\nchairman, said he would not interfere with the House factions in
\ndeciding the fate of Akbar.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever decision is taken by the factions, we must respect
\nit,\" Hamzah told reporters at his office on Tuesday.<\/p>",
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