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)