A few brave legislators try again to oust Akbar

A few brave legislators try again to oust Akbar

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A new motion in the House of Representatives (DPR) to force
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung -- convicted of corruption -- to
relinquish his position had won the support of at least 70
legislators from various factions, according to the motion's
initiator.

Legislator Dwi Ria Latifa from the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Monday she would continue to
garner support for a new motion for at least another week.

"I have not actively circulated this motion, I have simply
been waiting for fellow legislators to come and sign it," Ria
Latifa said, adding that the motion had the support of
legislators from a wide variety of parties, including the Golkar
Party, which Akbar chairs.

The motion calls for the establishment of a disciplinary
committee to determine whether Akbar should be allowed to hold
his current position as the House speaker until the end of his
term in 2004.

This is the second time that such a motion has been attempted
following the recent decision from the Jakarta High Court, which
upheld the Central Jakarta District Court's earlier verdict on
Akbar of three years in prison for corruption.

Ria Latifa initiated a similar motion last year after the
district court issued its verdict against Akbar, but that only
won the support of a mere 68 of the 500 legislators. It failed to
get through the process of scheduling for a deliberation from the
House's steering committee.

The failure of the House to endorse the motion was apparently
due to strong resistance from Golkar and PDI Perjuangan factions
-- by far the two largest factions at the House.

In ultimately supporting Akbar, PDI Perjuangan hid behind a
legal loophole, saying that it would rather wait for the decision
from the Supreme Court before deciding anything regarding Akbar's
position.

Immediately after the recent decision by the High Court, Akbar
requested an appeal from the Supreme Court and remains free at
the judges' discretion. The Supreme Court could take nearly a
year to issue its final verdict.

According to Ria Latifa, the process to force Akbar to resign
should be made much sooner. She added that she would also ask the
Supreme Court to make Akbar's case its top priority.

Meanwhile, Golkar's Eka Komariah Kuncoro said she would
support the motion if other legislators wanted her to do so.

Komariah suggested that the disciplinary committee would not
only discuss Akbar's fate, but also the poor performance of other
legislators who had failed in their House duties.

"All violations to the House code of ethics should be
deliberated upon by the disciplinary committee," Komariah added.

Ria Latifa who hopes to get the support from all the women
legislators conceded that most of them were reluctant to make
such a decision.