Akbar, Marzuki under siege over Habibie's fall

Akbar, Marzuki under siege over Habibie's fall

JAKARTA (JP): Supporters of B.J. Habibie within the Golkar
party accused on Wednesday party leader Akbar Tandjung and his
outspoken deputy Marzuki Darusman of masterminding the former
president's downfall.

Such was the antipathy that a mob tried to jostle Akbar as he
was entering the plenary hall of the People's Consultative
Assembly on Wednesday morning.

Resentment stems from the fact that voting results show that
Habibie's accountability report was rejected by more legislators
than the number comprising the factions that had previously
declared they would reject it.

Nurdin Halid, a staunch Habibie supporter from the Golkar
Party, claimed that some 30 Golkar members had defected and voted
against Habibie's accountability speech.

"I suspect that there were some 30 Golkar members who defected
and therefore I call on the party to set up a fact-finding team
to investigate the matter," Nurdin told reporters in the early
hours of Wednesday.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) voted 355 to 322 to
reject the report.

The rejection led to Habibie's withdrawal from the
presidential race on Wednesday morning.

Nurdin, who was recently acquitted of corruption charges,
claimed that Marzuki, who has been critical of Habibie due to his
strong links to former president Soeharto, should be held
responsible for the rejection of Habibie's accountability speech.

Another Golkar legislator, Priyo Budi Santoso, said Habibie's
speech was basically not rejected by the Assembly but by "Golkar
dissidents".

"We lost because we were stabbed from behind," he said
referring to Marzuki.

He speculated that some 30 to 40 Golkar members had defected
to Habibie's political foes.

Meanwhile, a group claiming to be members of the party's
regional chapters staged a protest against Akbar and Marzuki at
the Assembly complex earlier in the morning.

The party's central board was holding a special meeting at the
complex prior to the presidential election at the time.

Several protesters cried out: "Akbar and Marzuki are traitors.
Hand them over to us for trial."

Others shouted: "Akbar and Marzuki have betrayed the party."

Numerous students from the Forum for Eastern Indonesian
Students (FMIT) who joined the protest became involved in a
scuffle with Akbar's bodyguards as the party leader made his way
toward the main hall to attend a plenary session.

The eastern part of the country is a Habibie stronghold.

Splits began to appear in Golkar in May when the party named
Habibie as its sole presidential candidate.

At the time, Marzuki and other elements within the party had
openly expressed rejection of the nomination, saying it would
only set back the party's effort to make a complete break from
the past.

Marzuki, who also chairs the National Commission on Human
Rights, told reporters later in the day that the rejection of
Habibie's speech was "a clear signal that the Assembly wanted a
new government". (byg/rei/rms)