House leaders endorse handling of Bintang's case
House leaders endorse handling of Bintang's case
JAKARTA (JP): The leaders of the House of Representatives praised the United Development Party (PPP) yesterday for adhering to legal procedures in their steps to dismiss Sri Bintang Pamungkas.
Six of PPP's top executives, led by party secretary general Tosari Widjaya, informed House leaders of their highly controversial plan to fire the whistle-blowing Bintang.
"DPR leaders listened to their explanation and concluded that the PPP did not act arbitrarily against Bintang as some have alleged," deputy House speaker Soetedjo told journalists after the meeting.
The Moslem-oriented party will formally turn in its proposal to kick Bintang out of the legislative body, where he has served since 1992 as part of the East Java constituency.
The PPP leadership has accused Bintang of offending cabinet ministers at hearings in the House, undermining the state ideology Pancasila and criticizing the Armed Forces in both its political and defense roles.
Soetedjo, who represents the Armed Forces faction, said that the PPP is making an effort to fire Bintang constitutionally in order to prove its critics, and their allegations, wrong.
"They (PPP leaders) gave ample evidence that the action against Bintang was taken after the party had repeatedly issued warnings aimed to push him back to the party line," he said.
Tosari said the party was ready to propose Bintang's dismissal to the President through the House speaker.
"We will finalize the proposal," Tosari declared.
He described Bintang as "undisciplined" because of his tendency to deviate from official party policy.
"Bintang has time and again claimed that he is not a PPP member; that he is tired of being a House member and that he intends to form a new political party," he said.
"How can he make such remarks while he is well aware that he was appointed a legislator by the PPP?" he asked.
Bintang, who is a member of the House commission overseeing state budget affairs, said farewell at a hearing with Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad on Monday, although his proposed firing has not been sealed by the President.
"I have to bid you goodbye because the state of politics in this country is like this...and I hope they don't reverse their intention to fire me," he said.
At the hearing, Bintang played a recording of his lecture on Pancasila that PPP and the Armed Forces say undermines Pancasila and the Constitution.
"I wanted to prove wrong the information on my remarks supplied by the intelligence service to the Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security, which were then passed on to Ismail Hasan Metareum," he told The Jakarta Post.
Pancasila
In the seminar, according to Bintang, he encouraged the audience to accept Pancasila as the state philosophy and that Pancasila was compatible with Islamic teachings.
Bintang told Mar'ie (in English) "You take care". But he said he would tell Ismail Hasan (also in English) "Shame on you".
"Goodbye DPR. I shall return someday. Maybe soon, or sooner. Here or some other place," he said before leaving the conference room.
Bintang embarrassed the party last month when he got into a heated argument with Mar'ie Muhammad during a hearing.
Party leaders also received a letter from the Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman, who told them that Bintang's statement could threaten national stability. (29/pan)