Golkar lobbies to ease pressure on Akbar

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the Attorney General's Office moves to question 10 witnesses in House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung's corruption case, demands for a House special inquiry into the speaker and for him to step down have begun to die down.

Unlike the rowdy calls on Tuesday for Akbar to resign from his position, Wednesday heard only from People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, who called for Akbar to resign on the grounds of moral responsibility.

Worse still, the country's largest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which demanded on Tuesday that Akbar resign temporarily, toned down its position on Wednesday to only an appeal for Akbar to resign.

"Officially, there is no statement demanding Akbar's resignation. I only made an appeal," said PDI Perjuangan secretary-general Soetjipto. "With this appeal, the decision (to step down or not) lies with Pak Akbar."

PDI has also backed down from its initial position of demanding the establishment of a House special committee, as it wants to give the legal process a chance to proceed.

It is not immediately clear why PDI Perjuangan has softened its stance on Akbar.

It may be because of the Golkar Party's guerrilla campaign of sending its executives to lobby top politicians to treat its chairman more gently.

Amien, also chairman of the National Mandate Party, disclosed that two Golkar executives met with him at his house, querying his party's stance over the naming of Akbar in the scandal concerning Rp 40 billion (US$3.9 million) of state funds.

Amien subsequently agreed with Golkar and PDI Perjuangan that demands for the establishment of a House special committee would be irrelevant as the legal process initiated by the Attorney General's Office had been transparent.

According to Attorney General's Office (AGO) spokesman Muljohardjo, the Office would on Thursday question 10 witnesses to testify in Akbar's graft case.

Muljohardjo, however, refused to reveal the identity of the 10 witnesses, only saying that they would include executives of the Raudhlatul Jannah foundation, which Akbar claimed had received the funds, and employees at state Bank Exim and private Bank Duta, where the checks had been cashed.

The questioning, to be headed by prosecutor Manaf Djubaidi, would collect preliminary evidence on the alleged involvement of Akbar in the scandal.

Asked when Akbar himself would be questioned, Muljohardjo said: "We don't know. I think the questioning (of Akbar) will be after that of those witnesses."

He also refused to answer questions on whether Akbar would be arrested or banned from leaving the country, treatment that the office normally meted out to other suspects.

Akbar's involvement was disclosed by former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief Rahardi Ramelan, who was also named a suspect in the Rp 54.6 billion corruption scam at Bulog.

Rahardi claimed that Rp 40 billion of the Rp 54.6 billion in funds was channeled to Akbar, Rp 10 billion to then military chief Wiranto and the remainder used up in a land swap deal with retail company Goro Batara Sakti, belonging to former president Soeharto's son Hutomo Mandala Putra.

Rahardi's then deputy Achmad Ruskandar has also been named a suspect in the case.

Although Akbar has been named a suspect, it is unlikely that he will lose his position as House speaker and Golkar Party chairman anytime soon.

He would remain in his hot seat as House Speaker although there have been calls from various parties for him to step down. There is no specific regulation that could force him to leave his post.

He is not the first alleged corruptor to have remained in public office.

Before him were Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin, Assembly Deputy Speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita and PDI Perjuangan House faction chairman Arifin Panigoro. All retained their positions when they were declared suspects in various corruption cases.

"This is a difficulty for all of us because state officials who were involved in similar cases did not relinquish their posts," Amien told the media here on Wednesday.

"I think each leader has a different morality. This (Akbar's case) will be a test of our democracy," Amien added.

Besides his position in the House, Akbar's position within Golkar also appears to be impregnable.

Only last week, Akbar called in executives from all 30 regional Golkar chapters.

During the meeting the executives pledged allegiance to Akbar and expressed their readiness to take action in his defense.

They vowed to defend Akbar until a leadership election, scheduled for 2004.

However, as acknowledged by a dissenter to Akbar's leadership, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, the naming of Akbar as a suspect would ensure a tougher challenge in the future, especially in the 2004 elections.