Akbar pressured to surrender his DPR post on moral grounds
Akbar pressured to surrender his DPR post on moral grounds
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Due to the absence of specific legal grounds to force detained
House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung to
relinquish his top legislative post, several lawmakers on
Wednesday called for Akbar to declare himself non-active on moral
grounds.
The legislators said Akbar's willingness to declare himself
non-active as regards his duties in the House would help the
legislature improve its battered image.
"If he (Akbar Tandjung) respects the House, he should think of
declaring himself non-active from his daily duties," said Panda
Nababan of the House's most influential Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction here on Wednesday.
Fellow legislator from the less powerful Indonesian Nationhood
Unity (KKI) faction Sutradara Gintings concurred, saying that
based on morality and political ethics Akbar should relinquish
his post.
"He should declare himself non-active until a final ruling on
his case has been made by the court," said Gintings.
Pramono Anung of the PDI Perjuangan suggested that a
disciplinary committee should be set up to review the case
thoroughly.
Akbar, who has been detained at the Attorney General's Office
since Thursday, is one of the suspects in a case involving the
misuse of Rp 40 billion belonging to the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog). The money was previously claimed to have been spent on
financing a food for the poor project in 1999. But recently, the
money was suddenly returned to state investigators, implying that
the public had been deceived.
The use of ethical and moral grounds to demand Akbar's
suspension has been suggested by the legislators because of the
absence of legal grounds that could force the House speaker into
stepping aside, albeit temporarily.
None of the existing laws and decrees of the People's
Consultative Assembly can force Akbar to leave the top
legislative post.
Assembly Decree No.VIII/2001 on guidelines for the eradication
of corruption, collusion, and nepotism provides only for
administrative sanctions against any state official suspected of
corruption.
The House's internal regulations and code of ethics stipulate
that a plenary session can convene an ad hoc disciplinary
committee to review alleged violations by legislators. The
sanctions provided for consist only of verbal and written
cautions.
Responding to the demand for Akbar to step aside, however,
Akil Mochtar of Golkar, the second largest faction in the House,
took the view that it was red herring.
"I would be more ashamed to be Taufik Kiemas (President
Megawati's husband) or Guruh (Megawati's brother), who never
attend House meetings. Is that ethical?" Akil asked, insinuating
that Taufik and Guruh are frequent absentees from the House.
According to Akil, as there were no provisions governing the
issue, there was no need to focus on Akbar's suspension.
Golkar's Syamsul Mu'arif said that he was strongly against
Akbar Tandjung being sidelined from his position as House Speaker
as Akbar had yet to be found guilty by the court.
"Akbar is a suspect who has been detained. But he has not been
found guilty yet. If he is suspended from his role as House
speaker now, it will mean we are dealing with a political move,
not a legal one," Syamsul told reporters.
Syamsul said that if the court declared Akbar guilty of
corruption, it would then be appropriate to remove Akbar from the
speakership on the grounds that he had violated his oath of
office.
Meanwhile, an anticorruption activist urged legislators on
Wednesday to establish an ethics committee to dismiss Akbar from
his current position.
Teten Masduki, the coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch
(ICW), said on Wednesday that the establishment of such a
committee was a must as Akbar had been accused of deceiving the
public.
"Akbar has been shown to have violated the public servant's
code of conduct, and this can't be tolerated," Teten said on the
sidelines of an anticorruption workshop held by the ICW here.
House internal regulations
Article 19
(1) The House leadership consists of one speaker and (normally)
four deputy speakers so as to reflect the distribution of seats
among the factions.
(2) The tenure of House leaders is the same as that of House
members.
Article 24
(1) The speaker and deputy speakers swear an oath of office at a
plenary session before taking up office.
(2) The oath sworn by the speaker and the deputy speakers reads
as follows:
"I swear to almighty God that I will fulfill my obligation as
speaker/deputy speaker in a proper and impartial manner;
that I will uphold Pancasila as the state ideology, the 1945
Constitution and the prevailing laws; that I will uphold
democracy and devote myself to the nation and the Unitary
Republic of Indonesia."