Bintang sues PPP over dismissal from House
Bintang sues PPP over dismissal from House
JAKARTA (JP): Politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, already facing three different court battles against the government, has started another litigation: this time against the United Development Party (PPP) which he represented until May last year.
His lawyers said yesterday that they filed the civil lawsuit with the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday, claiming that the PPP central executive board's move to have him dismissed from the House of Representatives was "unlawful".
Lawyer Bambang Widjojanto of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said the PPP board did not consult the House before issuing the decree that led to his dismissal from the House.
Bintang's removal from the House was forwarded by the House speaker to President Soeharto, who approved the move in May.
PPP leaders earlier said that Bintang, one of only a few known scholars the party managed to recruit, had become more of a liability than an asset when speaking out on many issues, particularly on the role of the military in politics. They said Bintang had been warned repeatedly for transgressing the official party line.
Bambang quoted article 43 of Law No. 2/1985 regulating procedures in the House, which requires any political party to consult with the House first before deciding to expel a representative.
He also argued that there is still no proper mechanism for the dismissal of a House member because the 1985 law stipulates this matter would be regulated by a regulation, which to date has not been issued.
The lawyer said the PPP board also never gave Bintang an opportunity to defend himself as ruled in the "due process of law" principle of the country's legal system.
Bintang had earlier filed the same lawsuit with the Jakarta State Administrative Court but it was rejected because he had filed it more than three months after the purported offense occurred.
"It's only a legal technicality," Bambang said commenting on the earlier suit. The State Administrative Court sets a three- month expiration date while the district court is more lenient when it comes to time, he said.
Adnan Buyung Nasution, another YLBHI lawyer, said the case would be the first legal attempt made by a legislator sacked by his own party.
"We hope that Bintang's lawsuit makes Indonesian citizens realize their political rights and encourages them to fight against any authoritarian manners," Buyung said.
Bintang is currently battling a libel suit at the Central Jakarta District Court on charges of allegedly insulting President Soeharto.
Bintang won a suit he filed with the Jakarta State Administrative Court seeking the revocation of a travel ban imposed against him. He lost another he filed against President Soeharto for dismissing him from the House. Both cases are now being appealed at the high administrative court. (imn)