Soeharto's world on Bambang's dismissal awaited<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Executive Board of Golkar has not
\nyet received words from President Soeharto about its proposal to
\ndismiss Bambang Warih Koesoemo from the House of Representatives
\n(DPR), deputy chairman Abdul Gafur said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We're still waiting...We don't know yet,\" Gafur told
\nreporters. \"We've submitted the proposal to the House leaders (to
\nbe forwarded to President Soeharto).\"<\/p>\n
Gafur's remarks, made during a post-Idul Fitri reception at
\nthe Supreme Advisory Council of which he is a member, refuted the
\nsuggestions that the President has endorsed the plan to dismiss
\nBambang on grounds of failing to observe the group's official
\nline.<\/p>\n
Senior Golkar politician Alamsjah Prawiranegara earlier said
\nthat Soeharto approved the dismissal during a meeting with Golkar
\nleaders at his Jl. Cendana residence. Soeharto is also the chief
\npatron of the ruling political group.<\/p>\n
Gafur said Golkar had not been officially informed of
\nSoeharto's decision on the issue.<\/p>\n
\"We can only wait for the results,\" he said, adding however
\nthat as far as the executive board was concerned, the decision
\nwas final and is now simply awaiting for the official seal of
\napproval from the head of state.<\/p>\n
Golkar executive board last month presented a letter proposing
\nthe dismissal of Bambang to House Speaker Wahono. The latter sat
\non the issue for two weeks before passing it on to Soeharto \"with
\nadditional notes\". The content of these notes has since been the
\nsubject of speculation.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bambang faithfully went about his legislature
\nduties yesterday, attending a plenary meeting with Minister of
\nFinance Mar'ie Muhammad and another with the House's Commission
\non State Budget.<\/p>\n
\"I'll make the most of the rest of my time here, I'll be here
\nuntil the very last minute,\" he told The Jakarta Post. \"After all
\nmy duties here are completed, only then can I think of myself and
\nof what I'm going to do next.\"<\/p>\n
Bambang said he will still proceed with his plan to sue Golkar
\nleaders, both the central executive board and the East Java
\nbranch -- which initiated his dismissal, for tarnishing his name.<\/p>\n
\"I'll think about this plan more thoroughly later...it would
\nbe selfish of me to think about it now, as I still have much to
\ndo here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he's still actively involved in various
\ndiscussion in his commission, including the one on the state
\nbudget for the 1995-1996 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a legislator of the United Development
\nParty (PPP) who is also being \"recalled\" by his faction, failed
\nto show up at the DPR plenary meeting yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Plenary meetings are not interesting,\" Bintang said defiantly
\nfrom his home. \"Everything that's said in those meetings have
\nbeen pre-arranged and all that everybody does is nodding their
\nagreement.\"<\/p>\n
\"Whenever a person tries to argue or protest, he's treated as
\nif he's a weirdo, and I don't want to be looked at as a weirdo,\"
\nhe told the Post.<\/p>\n
He also lashed out at fellow legislators who sign meetings'
\nattendance record only to disappear for the rest of the working
\nday. \"That's deceitful...I'd rather be honest and don't show up
\nat all,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bintang, however, said he is still faithfully meeting his
\nother duties, including representing his party faction in a small
\nteam entrusted with task to examine the performance of the state
\nbudget commission. \"This team is studying many things, especially
\nthe question of how effective is our monitoring of the
\ngovernment's implementation of state budget,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bintang said this team is scheduled to meet more intensively
\nin June and July. \"By that time, I don't know whether I'll still
\nbe there,\" he laughed.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Golkar decided to dismiss Bambang Warih for his
\nalleged habit of deviating from the organization's official line,
\nPPP announced it was also dismissing Bintang.<\/p>\n
PPP leaders accused Bintang of not only deviating from party's
\nofficial line, but also of conducting an unpardonable gaffe of
\nquestioning the legality of the state ideology Pancasila.<\/p>\n
PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum recently said that the
\nparty's interests were \"harmed\" after it recruited Bintang in
\n1992. \"We lost more than we gained recruiting him,\" Ismail said.
\n(29\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soehartos-world-on-bambangs-dismissal-awaited-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}