Surabaya legislature leadership dismissed<\/p>\n
Resi Fadjar Himawanti, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
The Surabaya legislative council replaced on Monday its chairman
\nand three deputy chairmen because of their alleged involvement in
\na Rp 22.5 billion corruption scandal.<\/p>\n
The council agreed to appoint Herman Rifai of the Coalition
\nfaction and Pudji Astuti of the Indonesian Military\/National
\nPolice faction as acting cochairs until new leadership is
\nelected on April 4.<\/p>\n
\"We fully accept the plenary session's decision,\" Herman said
\nafter presiding over the special plenary session.<\/p>\n
Dismissed by the council were chairman M. Basuki of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and his
\ndeputies Ali Burhan of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Pudji
\nAstuti and Herman Rifai.<\/p>\n
The dismissals were signed by the leaders of the four factions
\nin the council following a five-hour plenary session, which was
\nattended by 41 of 45 councillors.<\/p>\n
The four factions in the council agreed that the legislative
\ncouncil needed new leadership to improve its effectiveness.<\/p>\n
Basuki has been detained by the prosecutor's office for his
\nalleged involvement in the corruption case.<\/p>\n
\"Since Basuki's arrest earlier this year, there has been a
\npower vacuum because the other leaders do not want to take
\nresponsibility for leading the council and we cannot endorse many
\nbylaws,\" PDI Perjuangan faction spokesman Armudji said.<\/p>\n
The four dismissed councillors are alleged to have been
\ninvolved in the embezzlement of Rp 22.5 billion from the city
\nbudget. Only Rp 1.7 billion of the embezzled funds has been
\nrecovered by prosecutors.<\/p>\n
Only Basuki and Burhan have been detained by the Surabaya
\nProsecutor's Office.<\/p>\n
Investigators have alleged that the two detained suspects
\nissued several decrees approving the disbursement of state funds
\nfor the benefit of council members between 2000 and 2002.<\/p>\n
Basuki and Burhan have been charged with violating Law No.
\n31\/1999 and Law No. 20\/2001 on corruption. If found guilty they
\ncould face 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Coalition faction spokesman Sofyan Hadi acknowledged that the
\nperformance of the legislative council had suffered in the
\nabsence of its chairman.<\/p>\n
\"And there has been no special appointment to replace Basuki,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Prior to the plenary session, a steering committee held
\nseveral meetings to select a new chairman but failed to reach an
\nagreement.<\/p>\n
An election will be held on April 4 to select new council
\nleadership.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, PKB faction spokesman Arifin Hamid said there was
\nnothing unusual about periodically evaluating the legislative
\ncouncil's leadership.<\/p>\n
However, he regretted that only two of the council leaders had
\nso far been arrested, while the others remained free.<\/p>\n
\"It is ironic that those who follow legal procedure are
\ndetained, but those who pretend not to know about the corruption
\ncase remain free,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also urged the council to select new leaders that would be
\nable to work together as a team.<\/p>\n
The military\/police faction said the dismissal of four council
\nleaders reflected the aspirations of the people.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Basuki has joined the Bung Karno Nationalist Party
\n(PNBK), chaired by film director Eros Djarot, one of President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's staunchest opponents. He made the switch
\nafter being dismissed from PDI Perjuangan, which is chaired by
\nMegawati.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/surabaya-legislature-leadership-dismissed-1447893297",
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