Committee a 'test case' for DPR's credibility

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A noted religious scholar lashed out at legislators on Thursday over their attempts to thwart the establishment of a special committee (Pansus) of the House of Representatives (DPR) to investigate the high profile Bulog scam involving House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

"The DPR's credibility is at stake. The Bulog scam will be a test case as to whether the House wishes to heed the people's aspirations, or whether the members just want to pursue their own short-term interests," Mudji told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Mudji warned that a failure to pursue the scandal, which involves the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), along the right track would diminish the public's trust in the House.

Calls have mounted for the House to form a special committee to probe Golkar chairman Akbar, who was declared a suspect by the Attorney General's Office for accepting Rp 40 billion in Bulog funds illegally disbursed by former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan.

The calls, however, have fallen on deaf ears, with the reluctance of the legislators to investigate Akbar raising questions as to their moral integrity.

Mudji said the establishment of a special committee to probe the allegations against Akbar was a must if the House wanted to earn the public's trust.

"The committee would provide political impetus so as to encourage a serious, transparent and fair investigation into the allegations of corruption made by the Attorney General's Office against Akbar," he said.

"The DPR's ploy to foil the establishment of the committee will impede the anticorruption drive in the country," Mudji added.

Legislator Mochtar Buchori of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) acknowledged on Thursday that legislators in the House were afflicted by moral turpitude.

"The public's assumption that the DPR today will represent the people's true feelings is false," Mochtar told The Jakarta Post.

He said that in every case, the selfish perspectives of the legislators prevailed.

"When they are about to face a case, they will ask themselves, "What is my interest in that case? Does this case affect my position in the DPR?"

"This is ironic, since they ignore the people's interests. If they are really fighting for the people, they would ask themselves whether the case in question would affect the lives of the people and, if it did, they would then fight all out against it," he asserted.

He said that most legislators in the House wanted to protect Akbar for fear that he (Akbar) would make public the corruption committed by fellow legislators.

"Because if Akbar is found guilty, he will reveal to the public the fact that all of the parties received the Bulog money," he said.

A Golkar executive revealed recently that all political parties had received a share of the Rp 40 billion in Bulog funds, except for the People's Democratic Party and the Justice Party.