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)