Akbar must quit: Senior Golkar leaders

Kurniawan Hari and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A claim by Akbar Tandjung that Golkar Party is unified in its support for him to stay on as party chairman and the House of Representatives speaker has raised eyebrows.

Akbar's political rivals within Golkar, weighed down by public pressure for Akbar to resign as House speaker after being convicted of corruption, told him on Thursday to concentrate on his unfinished legal process.

They argued that the mounting pressure from the public and Akbar's political opponents for him relinquish his post in the House was too hard to manage.

"Bang Akbar should resign, or otherwise he will be forced to quit," Marwah Daud, a senior Golkar leader representing the party's dissenting camp of Iramasuka, told a press conference on Thursday.

Iramasuka had made a similar demand when Akbar was detained as a suspect before the conviction several months ago.

Golkar executives attended an internal meeting on Wednesday night to discuss Akbar's legal status. An executive Aulia Rahman said the party was split over the matter, with deputy chairmen Theo Sambuaga, Fahmi Idris and Marwah heading the move to show Akbar the door.

"Such a discourse developed during the meeting last night," Aulia said.

While Fahmi and Marwah asked Akbar to quit his top posts in the House and in Golkar, Theo suggested that Akbar relinquish his Golkar chairmanship.

Marwah urged Akbar to quit as the chairman of Golkar, former strongman Soeharto's political power base, to restore the party's image.

Senior Golkar advisor Muladi, who is among those critical of Akbar, said Akbar should use his conscience by resigning from the House to restore the legislative body's and his own credibility and integrity.

Muladi, currently executive director of the Habibie Center, appealed to all factions in the House to heed public pressure against Akbar.

Marwah said Akbar should use the momentum of the Youth Pledge Day on Oct. 28 to prove himself as an enlightened leader by quitting the top posts in the House and Golkar.

Akbar was convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court on Sept. 4 for embezzling Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) in funds belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). He was sentenced to three years in prison and has appealed the verdict. He remains free as the judges did not order his detention.

Marwah emphasized that the resignation of Akbar would not necessarily imply that Akbar was guilty of corruption. She argued that Akbar had been wealthy since he was a student activist, therefore she believed Akbar did not take the money to enrich himself.

Many have alleged the money was used to help finance Golkar's political campaign ahead of the general elections in 1999. However, the judges and prosecutors failed to prove the allegations.

Since the verdict was handed down, there have been mounting calls for Akbar to leave his post as speaker of the legislature. A number of legislators from various factions had submitted a petition of no confidence against him, but Akbar is determined to stay in power.

Legislators hoped the petition would have been read out at a House plenary meeting on Monday, but Akbar refused to allow it and ordered that the petition be brought to a meeting of the steering committee (Bamus) scheduled for Thursday.

However, Bamus failed to discuss the issue on Thursday, claiming there was no time.

Deputy House Speaker Tosari Widjaja, who presided over the Bamus meeting on Thursday, said the petition would be discussed at a similar meeting next week.

Tosari, a deputy chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), denied speculations that the delay was designed to save Akbar.