House leaders block attempt to oust Akbar from key post
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite being under fire for its poor performance in legislation, the House of Representatives has displayed its stubbornness by maintaining graft convict Akbar Tandjung as its speaker.
The House defended Akbar yet again during a plenary meeting on Tuesday when the House Secretariat did not disclose a petition demanding the formation of a disciplinary committee to examine Akbar's status following the upholding of his conviction by Jakarta High Court.
The session would not have heard about the petition unless woman legislator Dwi Ria Latifa rose to question the issue.
"This is unfair. We should discuss the status of a House leader convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years in jail," Ria Latifa of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said.
The signatories of the petition asked Akbar to step down on a morality basis.
Fellow legislator Ida Fauziah of the National Awakening Party (PKB) also urged the formation of a disciplinary committee.
In accordance with custom, House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, who presided over the plenary session, announced the receipt of a letter from President Megawati Soekarnoputri naming three candidates for Bank Indonesia governor, namely Miranda S Goeltom, Cyrillius Harinowo and Burhanuddin Abdullah.
Soetardjo also disclosed that the government had received the presidential election bill for further discussion.
But the report on a petition signed by 70 interfaction legislators demanding the formation of a disciplinary committee was not heard. The motion was submitted at the end of January.
The disciplinary committee would be tasked with debating whether Akbar was still acceptable to head the legislative body.
Responding to Ria Latifa's interruption, Soetardjo ordered House deputy secretary-general Faisal Djamal to explain.
Faisal said the House leaders had studied the petition and had concluded that it did not comply with internal House rules.
"The motion cannot be responded to because it neither concerns relations between the House and the government nor involves violations committed by legislators during their term in office," Faisal said.
Article 57 of internal House rules stipulates that a committee can be set up if a legislator violates the House's code of ethics, breaks his or her oath and falsifies the documents required to become a legislator.
Faisal said since Akbar was sentenced for a crime he committed before he took up the House's top job, such a disciplinary commission to dismiss him was not relevant. Akbar was the minister/state secretary when the graft occurred in 1999.
The demand to form a disciplinary committee emerged when House factions rejected a motion of no-confidence against Akbar last year.
Akbar, who is also chairman of Golkar, the second biggest faction in the House, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail last year by the Central Jakarta district court for his role in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.6 million) financial scandal involving the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) in 1999.
Following his conviction, anti-corruption campaigners demanded Akbar to relinquish his position as House Speaker, arguing that he had lost his moral rights to lead one of the country's high institutions.
Akbar, however, maintained that he was not guilty of corruption as charged and appealed the verdict to the Jakarta High Court. Last month, the Jakarta High Court upheld Akbar's guilty verdict and jail sentence.
Akbar, the highest official convicted guilty of corruption in the country's anti-corruption drive, remains free pending appeal to the Supreme Court.