Decision on Bambang postponed

Decision on Bambang postponed

JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Wahono, defying speculation that
he would buckle under Golkar pressure, decided yesterday to
postpone a decision on expelling legislator Bambang Warih
Koesoemo until next week.

After leading a three-hour meeting between the leaders of the
House of Representatives (DPR), Wahono decided he and his
deputies needed more time and "input" before making a decision.

Deputy house speaker Soetedjo, from the Armed Forces (ABRI)
faction, was chosen to meet with reporters on Wahono's behalf and
denied suggestions that they were stalling.

"Insya Allah (God willing), we will discuss the matter again
in the DPR leadership meeting next week," he said.

According to Soetedjo, Wahono spent most of his time in the
meeting explaining the chronology of events leading to the Golkar
executive board's proposal to have Bambang removed from the DPR.

However, they would need "more input" before bringing the
proposal to President Soeharto for final approval, Soetedjo said.

On Monday, Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono felt strongly
that Wahono, a Golkar member, would eventually make a ruling in
Golkar's favor.

Soetedjo firmly stated yesterday, however, that Golkar's
reasons for dismissing Bambang, including his purported
misconduct during hearings with cabinet ministers, were not
adequate for DPR leaders to issue a ruling.

"We still need to hear from various parties before we can
decide whether to endorse Golkar's proposal," he said.

Soetedjo described the meeting, held behind closed doors, as
barely touching on the substance of the issue.

"We haven't really discussed the case, we only listened to the
House Speaker's explanation about how he received two letters
from Golkar," Soetedjo said.

The first letter was Golkar's proposal to have Bambang Warih
Koesoemo removed from the DPR, while the second was addressed to
President Soeharto, requesting his approval. Under the existing
House statutes, Wahono can nullify the proposal by withholding
the letter addressed to President Soeharto.

The meeting apparently took three hours because the DPR
leaders were discussing many other things apart from Bambang's
dismissal.

"We are not stalling. We haven't discussed calling Bambang to
hear from him directly," Soetedjo said.

However, Soetedjo promised that the DPR leaders would do their
best to issue a ruling on the case as soon as possible. "We don't
want to see public debate grow" uncontrollably, he said.

Bambang, a long-serving Golkar member known for his
outspokenness, grabbed media attention last year when he
disclosed a major bad-loan scandal involving one of Golkar's
donors.

Two weeks ago, Golkar's executive board announced that it was
firing Bambang from his legislative posts for various acts of
misconduct, including his supposedly offensive way of dealing
with government officials during his hearings.

Bambang, for instance, was considered guilty of demanding that
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief resign from his job, something
Golkar considered a gross violation since "hiring and firing
ministers is the President's prerogative".

Bambang was also said to be guilty of offending Minister of
Finance Mar'ie Muhammad in such a way that the offense could not
even be made public.

Bambang flatly denied all accusations leveled against him,
saying that they were all "one big slander" and that his leaders'
proposal to have him removed was "a political maneuver". He then
established a team of eight lawyers to take up his case should he
decide to sue the grouping's leaders. (swe)