Bintang to remain active in politics

Bintang to remain active in politics

SOLO, Central Java (JP): Legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas vowed to remain an outspoken politician yesterday, even if his party's plan to fire him is eventually endorsed by the House Speaker.

The House member from the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) is facing dismissal by his party for allegedly questioning the state-ideology Pancasila.

"Whether or not I have a seat in the House of Representatives is not an issue," he said at his high school reunion in this ancient city. "What's important is that I remain a politician who is free to express his opinion."

Bintang has, on various occasions, expressed his intention to set up a new political party, an idea widely considered unlikely since the law does not allow new parties.

In fact, "as a House member I have been unable to contribute to public well-being," he said. "I'm ashamed because, as a people's representative, I failed to push for proposals that would have increased teacher salaries and improved the public welfare in general," he said.

Bintang was recruited by party chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum to bolster the party's appeal among young people in the 1992 general elections. Since then he has become, according to the PPP, more of a problem for the party than an asset in his sharp criticism of other parties and cabinet ministers.

Party leaders announced recently they would consult House leaders on their plan to have Bintang removed from the House.

Bintang asserts that he has always adhered to the Constitution, which upholds people's sovereignty, and that he never questioned Pancasila.

He pointed out, however, that it is not enough for a person to claim that he upholds Pancasila. "It's not something you only have to memorize. You have to translate it into actions," he said.

"Only people who really uphold Pancasila, for instance, can improve the welfare of teachers and protect people from having their appropriated," he said. (har/swe)