Akbar admits House's failure to perform legislative tasks

Akbar admits House's failure to perform legislative tasks

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung claimed
on Thursday the legislative body had exercised its right to
investigate alleged acts of corruption and collusion, but failed
to mention the controversial Buloggate II corruption case, which
the DPR has not investigated and in which Akbar is a suspect.

The Speaker also admitted the House had failed to perform its
main task as a law-making body.

In his report at the Annual Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), Akbar said the House was unable to
complete its task of passing 70 bills submitted last year.

"(This failure) was because we lack facilities, experts and
financial support," he said.

He said the House had passed 23 of the 70 bills, with the
remaining 47 bills still under discussion. Of the total number of
bills, 40 were proposed by the government while the remaining 30
were initiated by the House.

In a recent consultative meeting between the House and the
government, Akbar said the House needed more money from the
government if it was to be able to speed of the process of
passing bills.

Without saying how much money the House was asking for,
President Megawati Soekarnoputri responded positively to the
demand.

Akbar also said in his report at the Annual Session that the
House had investigated several alleged cases of corruption and
collusion, including the alleged misuse of Presidential Aid
(Banpres) funds.

"We set up a small team to investigate the (Banpres) problem,"
Akbar, who is also the chairman of the Golkar Party, said without
alluding to the results of the investigation.

The House, he said, had also investigated allegations of
corruption and collusion at state-owned oil and gas company
Pertamina and at the central bank.

The Speaker, however, did not mention the House's failure to
establish a special committee to investigate the alleged misuse
of Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) belonging to the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog), in a case in which he is implicated.

Akbar, along with two other defendants, is currently on trial
at the Central Jakarta District Court for his alleged role in the
matter. Prosecutors demanded last week that the court sentence
Akbar to four years in jail, which is the minimum sentence
allowed for in the anticorruption law under which Akbar has been
charged. Many observers suspect this light sentence demand is the
result of a political compromise between Akbar and President
Megawati.

Golkar and Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) foiled efforts by the House to set up a special
committee to investigate the so-called Buloggate II case on July
1.

Three days later, the small team assigned to investigate the
Banpres matter concluded that there were no irregularities in the
use of the money. The team's findings cleared State Secretary
Bambang Kesowo, a close aide to Megawati, of any wrongdoing.

The team was set up after Megawati donated Rp 30 billion from
the Banpres fund for the renovation of military and police
barracks.