Legislators duck special committee<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Due to lukewarm enthusiasm shown by many legislators, the
\nhigh-profile proposal to form a special committee to investigate
\nGolkar chief Akbar Tandjung's alleged involvement in a Rp 54.6
\nbillion (US$5 million) scandal was plunged into uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Observers said that the future of the committee will depend
\nnegotiations and deals between Golkar and the National Awakening
\nParty (PKB).<\/p>\n
The PKB has been spearheading the movement to form such a
\ncommittee but its apparently weak lobbying strategy seems to have
\nbrought the proposal to a stalemate.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Deliberation Body (Bamus) had failed, for
\nmere technical reasons, to decide when the legislators would call
\nfor a plenary session to form a committee. Many blamed this on
\nthe inability of PKB to persuade other factions.<\/p>\n
PKB officials on Friday lodged a formal complaint with the
\nHouse secretariat over the technical problems.<\/p>\n
PKB, which has less than 20 percent of House seats, seems
\nundecided on what would be the exact focus of the committee.<\/p>\n
\"Our target is to clearly reveal the details of the case,
\nother targets will be decided later,\" an executive of the PKB
\nfaction Ali Asad said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
In earlier public explanations, Chairman of PKB Faction Ali
\nMasykur Musa implied that his goal was to put moral pressure on
\nAkbar, who has been implicated in the Bulog scandal, to quit.<\/p>\n
His statement was criticized by Crescent Star Party (PBB)
\nLeader M.S. Kaban, who said that the PKB were only trying to
\nexact revenge for the downfall of president Abdurrahman Wahid,
\nthe founder of PKB.<\/p>\n
Many analysts, especially in the PKB, believe Golkar was
\ninstrumental in the former president's ouster.<\/p>\n
\"It's OK to form a special committee, but there will
\ndefinitely be political bargaining. I think it will be much
\nbetter to support the (ongoing) investigation at the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office,\" said Kaban.<\/p>\n
He added that the creation of a special committee would not
\nautomatically settle the case because there have been many
\nsimilar committees, such as the inquiry into state oil firm
\nPertamina, that were unable to work effectively or achieve any
\nresults.<\/p>\n
There are 15 House committees currently working on different
\nissues. The formation of more committees may hamper the
\nperformance of the existing committees, according to some
\nlegislators.<\/p>\n
Golkar member Agun Gunanjar Sudarsa denied speculations that
\nhis faction had tried to halt the creation of the special
\ncommittee. \"If there is growing support for the special
\ncommittee, we will face it,\" he added.<\/p>\n
In the meantime Pramono Anung from the largest faction, the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
\nconfirmed the party's executive board had allowed all 153 members
\nto exercise their individual rights.<\/p>\n
\"We know that 20 of the 50 legislators who currently support a
\nspecial committee are from PDI Perjuangan. This means the party's
\nexecutive board has allowed all members to decide independently,\"
\nPramono said.<\/p>\n
Pramono confirmed that the majority of the 153 faction members
\nsupported the proposal for a special committee to investigate the
\nfinancial scandal. \"But the (official) stance of my faction has
\nnot been decided yet,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the 38 member Military\/Police faction which
\nabstained in last year's call for the creation of similar
\ncommittee to investigate a case involving then-president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid on Friday said the faction would assess the
\nproposal.<\/p>\n
\"This is a serious matter, we need further assessment,\" said
\nBudi Harsono, chairman of the faction.<\/p>",
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