Bambang's fate is in the House speaker's hands

Bambang's fate is in the House speaker's hands

JAKARTA (JP): The fate of Bambang Warih Koesoemo, the Golkar
legislator recently dismissed for being "too outspoken", is now
in the hands of House Speaker Wahono.

Golkar leaders submitted their decision to kick Bambang out of
the House of Representatives (DPR) to Wahono for endorsement
before referring it to President Soeharto for final approval.

Wahono, himself a former Golkar chief, would not give
reporters his opinion of Bambang's proposed dismissal, a move
which many feel has smeared the party's image.

He also said the DPR is waiting to discuss the Golkar
executive board's "proposal to discharge Bambang" and has yet to
decide whether to back the case and bring it before President
Soeharto.

"We (DPR leaders) have not discussed it and Bambang has yet to
be recalled," he said.

Golkar announced Tuesday its plan to withdraw Bambang, known
for a number of whistle-blowing incidents and especially his
disclosure of a major bad-debt scandal last year. Golkar leaders
said he was guilty of misconduct, and of "lacking manners" when
dealing with cabinet ministers.

Bambang was accused of offending the ministers of manpower,
industry, and finance and for falsely accusing the Ministry of
Public Works during his hearings with the officials.

Bambang has categorically denied all accusations leveled
against him by the Golkar leaders, calling them "one big slander"
and a "political maneuver".

He retaliated by accusing Golkar leaders of hastily compiling
collection of press clippings to support their allegations of
misconduct instead of utilizing actual recordings and minutes
from his hearings.

Yesterday, Wahono met with four Golkar leaders, including
faction chairman Moestahid Astari and deputy chairman Abdul
Gafur.

Consultation

The delegation submitted two letters, the first of which is
the executive board's decision to dismiss Bambang, addressed to
DPR leaders. The second letter is addressed to President
Soeharto.

According to Wahono, however, the letter addressed to DPR
leaders should be categorized as a "proposal" and, as it is,
needs to be studied further. The meeting that he held with
Moestahid and the others was also "only a consultation", he said.

"They asked for my opinion on the legality of their decision
to withdraw a member. So, Bambang is not yet recalled..he's still
functioning (as legislator)," Wahono said.

A similar case occurred in 1982 involving the proposed
dismissal of Soedardji, then chairman of the Moslem-oriented
United Development Party (PPP), by the party's executive board.

At that time, the PPP board's "proposal" to fire Soedardji was
declared void when the then House Speaker Amir Machmud decided
not to submit it to the President.

Wahono refused to say when he will meet with President
Soeharto.

Abdul Gafur agreed that the ball is now in Wahono's hands.

"Whether the dismissal will be executed "depends entirely on
House Speaker Wahono," Gafur said. "Wahono has received our
letter (decree for dismissal) and he promised to deal with it in
accordance with official procedures."

Also yesterday, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told
reporters that Golkar's decision to fire Bambang was "valid".

"Golkar is a system and an institution, and I see the board's
decision to discharge Bambang as valid," he said.

"The mechanism (for discharging a member) is appropriate
because it's the organizations, not individuals, which compete
during general elections."

Moerdiono, however, refused to say if there was any truth in
the Golkar leaders' claim of having already consulted with
President Soeharto, as chairman of Golkar's Board of Patrons,
before deciding to dismiss Bambang.

Denial

Adding to the already wide-spread controversy, Minister of
Industry Tunky Ariwibowo, whom the Golkar leaders said had been
offended by Bambang, said Thursday he never had any such
experience with Bambang.

Gafur refused to comment on Tunky's remarks. "The executive
board has decided that Bambang has failed to utilize
discipline...we have our own organization rules," Gafur said.

As for Bambang's denial of the accusations, "Let him say that,
but there are many people who have prepared reports," Gafur said.

Meanwhile, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) faction in DPR, Fatimah Achmad, rejected suggestions that
her party might be tempted to dismiss outspoken members as Golkar
did.

"Up to the present, we don't have any plan to dismiss any
member," she said, adding that the PDI executive board would
consider taking such a decision only if a member really violates
the organization's statutes.

She said the party likes to have its members to speak out like
Bambang. "In fact, we encourage our members to be critical," she
said. (swe)