Justice vs politics<\/p>\n
Disillusion is perhaps too mild a word to describe the news
\nthat came out of the House of Representatives building on Monday.
\nWith hundreds of student protesters jostling and shoving against
\nthe House's front gate to push their demand for the formation of
\na special commission to investigate the corruption scandal known
\nas Buloggate II, a majority of legislators inside the House of
\nRepresentatives nonetheless voted against such an inquiry.<\/p>\n
As a result of Monday's debate, 193 of the 360 legislators
\npresent voted against forming such a commission. With only 73
\nlegislators voting for and 94 others abstaining, it appears to
\nhave put an end to the months-long drive to have the House
\ninvestigate its own speaker, Akbar Tandjung, for his alleged
\ninvolvement in a Rp 40 billion scandal, which occurred during the
\nbrief presidency of B.J. Habibie, when Akbar was state\/Cabinet
\nsecretary. It may be noted in passing that last year, Indonesia's
\nfourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid, lost his presidency after a
\nsimilar inquiry implicated him in what has become known as
\nBuloggate I, involving a sum of Rp 35 billion from the same
\nagency.<\/p>\n
While the result of Monday's voting may be gratifying for the
\nGolkar Party, which Akbar leads, it is hugely disappointing for
\nthe majority of people in this country. Particularly
\ndisappointing is the stance taken by the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which, after months of
\npublicly wavering and privately maneuvering finally decided to
\noppose the moves to form the commission of inquiry into Buloggate
\nII.<\/p>\n
Given the fact that PDI Perjuangan, with its 153 legislators,
\ncontrols the biggest faction in the House, that stance
\neffectively killed any chance to form the commission.<\/p>\n
Some 50 PDI Perjuangan legislators did not even bother to show
\nup to vote.<\/p>\n
Also, that their position was announced at virtually the last
\nminute, it is indeed something of a surprise to find that only
\nthree of its legislators voted against forming the commission.
\nFive openly supported the move and by far the biggest majority,
\n92 legislators, abstained. As some observers have noted, this
\nwould seem to indicate a move by the party to appease its
\ncritics, although, of course, the 92 abstentions would have made
\nno difference if they had voted for the creation of the inquiry.<\/p>\n
On the face of it, there is some fairly good reasoning
\nunderlying the argument that PDI Perjuangan is presenting to the
\npublic, which is that the supremacy of the law must be upheld and
\nsince a simultaneous inquiry by the House could only interfere
\nwith the legal process, which is already moving, no commission
\ntherefore is needed. Objections to this kind of reasoning,
\nhowever, are easily raised.
\nThroughout its most recent history, this country's legal system
\nhas shown few signs of integrity, as was demonstrated most
\nrecently by its handling of the case against Tommy Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Hence the criticism being hurled at the party by some of this
\ncountry's most noted observers. The highly respected Muslim
\nscholar Nurcholish Madjid, for example, remarked that the party's
\ndecision to drop the proposal to establish a special commission
\nof inquiry was quite unfortunate as it showed that the party with
\nthe largest representation in the legislature was now against
\nupholding justice. Others have accused the party's chairperson,
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, of betraying the people.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, it seems that all that is now water under
\nthe bridge. So, it appears that the time has not yet arrived when
\nthe representatives of the people carry out the will of the
\npeople, but rather the interests of their own political parties
\nand those of their leaders. The real reason why PDI Perjuangan
\ntook such an unpopular stance is of course clear to everyone: It
\ndoes not want, or dare, to antagonize Golkar by implicating its
\nchairman, Akbar Tandjung, in a major corruption case. The stakes
\nfor the party are simply too high.<\/p>\n
The only hope that justice can still prevail is that the
\ncourts will show enough integrity and independence in its verdict
\nagainst all those involved in the case. The chance that justice
\nwill be done may be slim indeed. However, it seems that this is
\nyet another bitter pill that Indonesians will have to swallow.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/justice-vs-politics-1447893297",
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