Heat is on House Speaker Akbar over Bulog scandal

Heat is on House Speaker Akbar over Bulog scandal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung met on Tuesday
night with Taufik Kiemas, president Megawati Soekarnoputri's
husband, to seek support to block a move aimed at establishing a
House special committee to investigate a graft case allegedly
involving him.

An executive at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), Roy BB Janis said the meeting took place at
Akbar's residence.

"At the meeting, Akbar sought our support that the scam would
not be brought to a House special committee," Roy told the media
on Wednesday.

"We told him that the PDI Perjuangan faction had neither
ordered nor banned its members from participating in the
establishment of a special committee. It's their right as
legislators," Roy said.

Akbar is trying to drum up support to obstruct the move by 50
legislators who had earlier filed a petition with House leaders
to establish a committee to probe the scam.

Speaking to the media after presiding over a House plenary
meeting, Akbar confirmed that he had met with Taufik Kiemas, but
denied he had sought support over the issue.

"It was a silaturahmi (brotherhood meeting) because both of us
are House members," he said.

Akbar said he had asked Taufik to host the meeting, but the
latter refused. "So the meeting took place at my residence," he
said.

Earlier in the day, a plenary meeting presided over by Deputy
House Speaker Tosari Widjaja accepted a proposal from 50
legislators for the creation of a special committee to
investigate the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion in funds
belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), which allegedly
involved Akbar.

Following the acceptance, the plenary meeting then ordered the
House's deliberating body to discuss whether the plan should go
ahead or not.

"We will convey the proposal to the deliberating body. It is
the body that will discuss further steps to follow up the
proposal," Tosari told The Jakarta Post after the meeting.

Further deliberation of the proposal will be held on Nov. 19
because the House goes into recess on Thursday, in preparation
for the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on
Nov. 1.

Separately, State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo
said that the government had received a letter from Attorney
General M.A. Rachman requesting the President's consent to
question House Speaker Akbar Tandjung over his alleged
involvement in the Bulog scam.

"We received the letter (on Tuesday) evening and the President
will respond to the request as soon as possible," Bambang told
journalists.

In the meantime, Bulog chief Widjanarko Puspoyo said, after
meeting Megawati, that his office would continue with its efforts
to recoup the lost funds, including the Rp 40 billion (US$4
million).

"They amounted to around Rp 2 trillion, but it will not be
easy to recover them because many of the funds were disbursed to
personal accounts that were related to the many former Bulog
chiefs. It would have been easier if they had been disbursed to
companies," Widjanarko said.

He said that his office would also supply data to the Attorney
General's Office for investigation purposes.

Separately, National Awakening Party (PKB) deputy chairman
Mahfud M.D. revealed that he had additional evidence relating to
the case.

"I believe that these corruption allegations are genuine and
not merely a political maneuver, like the previous case
concerning Bulog. That was a factor that ultimately led to the
fall of former president Abdurrahman Wahid," Mahfud, a former
minister of defense under Abdurrahman, told reporters at the PKB
office in Central Jakarta.