'Akbar detention won't shake the government'

'Akbar detention won't shake the government'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is putting a brave face on
the worst of the consequences that could occur following the
detention of House of Representatives Speaker and Golkar Party
chairman Akbar Tandjung over graft allegations, saying the
country's political stability would remain intact.

"The President has not seen any sign that the detention will
shake the current government," Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told
reporters after a meeting with President Megawati at her office
on Friday.

Megawati called the meeting, which aimed to discuss the
possible adverse consequences of Akbar's incarceration on
political stability.

According to Susilo, those discontent with the detention of
Akbar must convey their aspirations through legitimate and proper
political channels, in order not to destabilize the nation.

Megawati was responding to mounting pressure from several
executives within the Golkar Party, who asked ministers from the
party to abandon the Cabinet and initiate a national boycott.

Among those making the threats were State Minister for
Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif and Priyo Budi
Santoso, a Golkar legislator.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and
State Minister of Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Sumarjoto are
other Golkar functionaries who hold ministerial posts.

As a former ruling party for more than three decades, Golkar
dominates the bureaucracy.

Golkar executives have accused Megawati's Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) of masterminding a
concerted character assassination of Akbar by applying pressure
on the Attorney General's Office to detain the Golkar chief.

Hafiz Zawawi, another Golkar executive, said Akbar's detention
was politically motivated, and therefore the party should make "a
measured retaliatory move."

"The Golkar Party must consider a pull-out from the Cabinet
and act as an opposition party," he said.

Vice President Hamzah Haz, meanwhile, tried to appease the
angry Golkar camp.

Hamzah suggested that Golkar executives maintain their
composure in response to Akbar's detention.

"All parties should be respectful of legal procedures, and it
would be better not to react in an irrational way. Should the
Golkar Party do that (a national boycott), it would only hurt the
party's image before the people," said Hamzah, who also chairs
the United Development Party (PPP), on Friday.

Hamzah said anybody could experience what had happened to
Akbar.

Akbar, a suspect in the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion in
funds belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) when he was
the minister/state secretary in 1999, was placed in the custody
of the Attorney General's Office for 20 days to help speed up the
investigation.

His detention came as a surprise, with Akbar initially putting
up a fight and trying to leave the Attorney General's Office when
he was asked to sign documents relating to his arrest on
Thursday.

Akbar is the most prominent, active state official ever
detained over corruption charges since deputy People's
Consultative Assembly speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita last year.
Ginandjar, a suspect in a graft case involving state oil company
Pertamina, is facing detention again after the Supreme Court
asked state prosecutors to resume investigations into the case.

However, not all Golkar executives lost their composure and
suggested drastic moves.

Several executives of the party defied the extreme stance.
They said withdrawal of Golkar's ministers from the Cabinet and a
national boycott would be counterproductive.

"The emotional attitude will only create political
instability, and this will adversely affect our economic recovery
efforts. Besides, the moves will further tarnish Golkar's image
due to our failure to provide people with political education,"
said Fahmi Idris, one of Akbar's confidants.

According to Fahmi, those emotional calls did not represent
Golkar. He maintained that the party would seek an elegant
solution to the case.

Fahmi said Golkar would hold an executive meeting immediately,
at which the party would come up with a common stance in dealing
with the tug-of-war within the party.