Convicted House leaders must leave office

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) who are convicted of a crime have to leave their office immediately regardless of whether they appeal the ruling or not, home minister Hari Sabarno says.

"An appeal has been misused to defy a prison sentence," Hari said during the deliberation of the bill on the composition of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), and the provincial and regental legislature (DPRDs).

Minister Hari said this was reflected in Article 21 of the bill, especially Paragraph 2 which states House leaders would be suspended of duties should the court find them guilty of a crime that carried a sentence of five years or more.

Demands for convicted House leaders to quit their posts surfaced by House Speaker Akbar Tandjung was convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years in prison.

Akbar, who is also chairman of the second largest party Golkar, was brought to court for his role in a Rp 40 billion financial scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) ahead of the elections in 1999.

A group of inter-faction legislators have repeatedly called for Akbar's dismissal, but to no avail. The House said that there were no legal grounds to dismiss a convicted legislator until a final and binding verdict was handed down by the Supreme Court.

Akbar, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the scandal, remains free pending appeal. Akbar is now one of the strongest contenders for the presidential post in 2004 election.

Apart from discussing the legal status of House leaders, the home minister also said that members of the public had the authority to demand the dismissal of members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

Hari said the demands of the people should be channeled through the provincial legislative council (DPRDs) which then would conduct investigation into the accused.

"The minimum number of people who can demand the dismissal of DPD members will be discussed further," Hari said, adding that a mandatory number of people would ensure the clause was not misused.

Meanwhile, the minister supported the idea of setting up more units in the House that would deal with research, bill drafting, and budget analysis.

He, however, said the formation of more units would be stipulated in the internal regulations of the House.

Currently, the House has at least seven units. They are House leaders, House Commissions, Steering Committee, Legislation Body, Inter-Parliament Cooperation Body, Honorary Council and Committee for State Budget.