Golkar exposes sins of discharged legislator

Golkar exposes sins of discharged legislator

JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the ruling Golkar party declared
their reasons for firing Bambang Warih Koesoemo, a legislator
well known for his whistle-blowing practices.

Bambang was removed from the House of Representatives (DPR) on
Wednesday because of misconduct and for "lacking manners" when
dealing with cabinet ministers, said deputy chairman Abdul Gafur
and vice secretary-general Moestahid Astari, who is also chairman
of the Golkar faction in the DPR.

Moestahid and Gafur came up with a list of incidents which
they said were proof of Bambang's poor discipline and habit of
deviating from official party lines.

Moestahid said that on one occasion Bambang overstepped his
bounds by unreasonably asking "that the Minister of Manpower
resign".

"This is a violation of (party) principle because installing
and discharging ministers is the President's prerogative,"
Moestahid said.

According to Moestahid, Bambang had also once said to Minister
of Industry Tunky Aribowo that he appeared not "as a minister but
more as a businessman".

In addition, Moestahid said, Bambang accused the ministry of
public works of "wasting state money" and for "offending"
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad in such a way that could not
be described in public.

Moestahid said Golkar leaders have examined Bambang for the
last two years and have attempted to "guide" him. "I think we
have tried to guide him more than once, especially concerning his
activities both as a DPR member and outside of the DPR," he said.

"We've been watching his actions, his press statements and
other activities," Moestahid said. "There are ethics and good
manners which need to be displayed when Golkar-faction members
hold meetings with their counterparts."

Approach

Moestahid also said that he had once personally approached
Bambang and given him an opportunity to correct his conduct.

The vice secretary-general said that the executive board's
examination of its members' conducts will not stop with Bambang.
"Everything is evaluated in accordance with certain standards and
is all done objectively," he said.

Moestahid rejected the suggestions that Bambang was fired
because of his daring disclosure of a bad-debt scandal involving
the Kanindo group of companies owned by Robby Tjahjadi, one of
Golkar's donors.

"The violations he committed accumulated over the last two
years...there have been attempts to correct him, but we all know
how Bambang is," Moestahid said in a state of agitation.

He refused to verify rumors that Bambang would not be the only
Golkar member withdrawn from DPR. "It all depends on whether the
members are capable of adapting to the party's policies," he
said.

Chided

Bambang, however, chided the accusations leveled against him.
"It's all one big slander," he told reporters who met him outside
of his hearings with the state-budget commission at DPR.

Bambang accused Golkar leaders of hastily compiling a
collection of press clippings to support their allegations of
misconduct instead of utilizing actual recordings and minutes
from his hearings.

"I never asked the Minister of Manpower to resign," he said
harshly. He recounted that at the time of the hearing with the
minister there had been many reports of abuse and levies
illegally imposed by manpower supplier companies on Indonesian
workers abroad.

"I told the minister that if he had not resolved the problem
within a year then he would be in violation of the oath he had
taken when appointed minister," Bambang said.

Bambang rejected the rest of the list's accusations, saying
that he met with Mar'ie Muhammad in a personal capacity instead
of as a legislator meeting a minister. In his defense he added
that he never accused the ministry of public works as wasting the
state's money.

"The Golkar faction is crazy if they used those allegations as
grounds for my dismissal," he said. "This (dismissal) is either a
political maneuver or a pure misunderstanding."

"There's still a chance that I won't be withdrawn after all,"
he said, but should it happen, "I can sue them."

Political observer Arbi Sanit cautioned that the two minority
parties, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), might be "inspired" to do the same thing
with their outspoken members.

"PPP and PDI may go as far as discharging their members...
because they have seen Golkar do it," he told the Antara news
agency. (swe)