Gus Dur walks out of scandals hearing

Gus Dur walks out of scandals hearing

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday left
legislators dumbfounded as he abruptly walked out of a meeting
with the House of Representatives' special committee
investigating the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

Abdurrahman surprised everyone as he left the meeting hall at
the Jakarta Convention Center only some 45 minutes into the
scheduled two-hour session.

The President refused to say anything as he left the hall but
later called a snap news briefing at the presidential palace to
defend his action.

"I was asking for clarification whether (the committee) is a
political forum or legal forum ... since no answer was given (by
members of the committee), I thought it was unnecessary to
continue the meeting," Abdurrahman said.

"I left after it was clear that the committee could not give
an answer," Abdurrahman added.

He said he had agreed to come to the meeting because he
thought the special committee had realized that it was not a
legal forum.

The President has repeatedly questioned the legality of the
special committee, contending that it was not registered at the
state secretariat as required by a 1954 law.

The committee is seeking to question Abdurrahman about the
fraudulent withdrawal of Rp 35 billion (US$3.3 million) from the
State Logistics Agency (Bulog) by his masseur and also a $2
million donation from the Sultan of Brunei which the President
claims was a personal gift.

Abdurrahman said he had already answered questions regarding
the cases and that further queries "should be made within a
political context".

"Any information (given to the committee) cannot be used as
legal evidence against anyone," Abdurrahman said, adding that the
scandals should be settled in a court of law.

He then accused members of the committee of using the scandals
"to undermine the authority of the government and the President".

"So, what's happening here is character assassination,"
Abdurrahman charged.

Monday's hearing was conducted at the Jakarta Convention
Center as it was considered a neutral alternative to the House
complex or the palace.

Heated

This latest episode is sure to strain even further the already
uneasy relations between the President and the legislature,
particularly as the committee is set to reveal its findings on
Jan. 29.

Special committee chairman Bachtiar Chamsyah affirmed that the
President's walkout would only worsen the already strained
relations between the palace and the House.

Alvin Lie Pie Hong, deputy chairman of the special committee,
questioned the President's sudden departure.

"There was no reason for Gus Dur to become emotional ... the
President failed to uphold mutual respect between the legislative
body and the presidency," he said.

But committee member Ali Masjkur Musa, from Abdurrahman's
National Awakening Party, said he understood the reasons for the
President's abrupt leaving.

"It was reasonable for the President to leave. The President
is of the opinion that the meeting was not an investigation and,
therefore, he did not see any point in answering the questions
from the special committee," he said.

He claimed that his faction supported an investigation into
the two scandals but so far there were no sufficient grounds to
establish the special committee.

Ali Masjkur also said that his faction was considering
rejecting the investigation's results as it was too politicized.

"From the start, the investigation has been engineered by
certain groups in the special committee to come to the conclusion
that the President was involved in the scandals and their main
objective is to discredit the government so that a general
election and a presidential election can be held again," he said.

Sources inside the closed door meeting said the President
before leaving admitted that he had met former trade minister
Yusuf Kalla and former Bulog deputy chief Sapuan in December 1999
to seek Rp 435 million for humanitarian aid to Aceh.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said that despite the absence of
a clarification from the President, the House's special committee
would continue its investigation into the scandals.

"The House will hold a plenary session to receive the special
committee's report on the results of the investigation. It will
depend on the factions as to whether they will accept the report
or not," he said.

He hinted that the way the President left the meeting was
impolite.

"We have a code of ethics," Akbar remarked. (byg/rms)