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)