Akbar urged to heed virtue and quit post as speaker

Nana Rukmana and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Jakarta

The move to clip House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung's wings has taken a new turn following a Jakarta High Court verdict against him with at least 75 legislators demanding his suspension.

Deputy House Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar said over the weekend more legislators looked like following suit and the effort to sideline Akbar would depend solely on how significant was the vote of no-confidence against Akbar.

"There is no ruling that can force Akbar to stay out of office except the will of the majority in the House," Muhaimin said on the sidelines of an anniversary celebration of his National Awakening Party in Cirebon, West Java.

Akbar was elected House speaker by a majority vote in 1999 and survived the post despite mounting pressure dating back to early last year when the Attorney General's Office named him a suspect in a graft case involving a State Logistics Agency fund.

The Central Jakarta District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison last September. The Jakarta High Court upheld the verdict on Friday, but, like the lower court, failed to order Golkar Party chairman Akbar to serve his prison term.

Analysts predicted the higher court verdict would prevent him from running for president in 2004.

Calls have been mounting for Akbar to relinquish his position in an effort to restore the tainted image of the legislature.

Legislators say Akbar's resignation from the House would benefit both the legislative body and Akbar himself.

Meanwhile, the verdict has worsened friction among leaders of the Golkar Party, the nation's second largest party after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Many Golkar leaders have urged Akbar to give up his posts as Golkar chairman and House Speaker, but Akbar's supporters jumped to the defense of their leader.

Ahmad Farhan Hamid and Sutradara Gintings who chair the Reform faction and Indonesian Nationhood faction respectively at the House suggested on Saturday that Akbar step down.

"The district court and the high court have found Akbar guilty. It is Pak Akbar's moral responsibility to quit," Farhan told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He added that if Akbar kept his position, it would shatter the already-tainted image of the House.

Sutradara meanwhile offered another solution, suggesting that Akbar suspend his official duties while focusing on the legal process.

He criticized many legislators who rejected a proposal to form a committee of inquiry into Akbar's case, saying that the rejection had hampered the House from making a recommendation on Akbar's fate.

Satjipto Rahardjo, a legal expert at Diponegoro University in Semarang suggested that the House take action to revise Akbar's position as House Speaker.

He acknowledged that his request was based on moral virtue rather than legal principle.

"If we still have moral principles, we would not accept that the prestigious legislative body is headed by a convict," Satjipto added.

Separately, Golkar's cochairman Fahmi Idris revealed that friction had worsened among party's leaders.

One group is of the opinion that the verdict by the High Court is not the end of the legal process, therefore Akbar's position as chairman of the party and House speaker must not be questioned.

Another group say that the decision is final and urge the dismissal of Akbar. "We will discuss that issue at a leadership meeting scheduled for February," said Fahmi who admitted that he was among those demanding that Akbar resign.

Fahmi added that during the leadership meeting in February his group would call for a party congress to discuss, among other things, revisions to the party's platform and agenda, as well as the replacement of Akbar.