Akbar asked to relinquish his posts
Akbar asked to relinquish his posts
Party members call on Akbar to step down
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
While presidential consent was given on Thursday for state
prosecutors to question House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker
Akbar Tandjung in connection with a graft investigation, a
faction inside the Golkar Party urged him to resign from his
posts in the party and the House.
Some members of the eastern caucus of Iramasuka, which
constitutes a strong force within Golkar, expressed support for
the establishment of a House special committee to prove the
alleged swindling of Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) from the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog), which reportedly involves Akbar.
An executive at Golkar Party, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, said she
supported the establishment of a special committee if it could
improve the legal process against Akbar, who is also the chairman
of Golkar.
"In this scandal, the law must be enforced. If the special
committee is able to enforce the law, it must be set up. But if
there is no significance, we should not pursue it," she said.
She also said that if Akbar was proven guilty, he must be
punished and if Golkar is proven guilty, the organization must be
penalized.
Golkar Advisory Board deputy chairman AA Baramuli was more
supportive of the establishment of a special committee.
He said the Golkar faction at the House must join others in
support of the special committee.
"It would be a setback for the party if they refused to
support the proposal to establish a special commission," Baramuli
said.
He further said that Golkar must hold an emergency meeting to
decide whether it would let Akbar maintain his chairmanship.
He also suggested that Akbar resign temporarily from his
position as House speaker to allow the investigation to proceed.
State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo said President Megawati
Soekarnoputri signed and sent on Thursday a letter allowing the
Attorney General's Office to question Akbar as a witness in the
new Bulog case.
Meanwhile, the deputy attorney general for special crimes,
Bachtiar Fachri Nasution, said his office would soon schedule a
time to question Akbar as a witness.
"Soon after approval is secured from the President, we will
find a time to summon him (Akbar). We, however, have yet to
receive it (the approval letter)."
Akbar allegedly diverted Rp 40 billion in funds from Bulog
into the party's coffers when he was state secretary during
former president B.J. Habibie's tenure in 1999.
Golkar deputy secretary-general Rully Chairul Azwar suspected
that a political motive was behind the case to weaken the party's
position ahead of the 2004 general election.
Responding to the demand for Akbar to quit, Rully said the
replacement of party chairman could be made only in a leadership
meeting, slated for January.
"The soonest meeting will be in January in which Golkar's
regional chapters will evaluate Akbar's leadership," Rully said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation chairman Bambang
Widjojanto expressed his doubts that justice would be done in the
case.
"We do not have a grand design to fight corruption. If the
case proceeds, I don't believe there will be a resolution. We do
not have a sophisticated legal system. Akbar is clever, he
realizes the situation," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.