House presses forward with Akbar inquiry
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators on Monday agreed to bring a proposal to form an inquiry on the alleged abuse of power by Golkar Party Chief Akbar Tandjung to a plenary meeting in January next year, however the question still remains whether the House of Representatives would eventually agree to form it or not.
A meeting of the House steering committee agreed in a vote to bring the proposal for discussion to a plenary meeting on Jan. 21.
Fifty one members of the committee voted in support of the proposal. There were 21 votes against and two abstentions. A total of 74 of the 76-member committee attended Monday's meeting.
The House plenary meeting on Jan. 21 will decide whether it will form the special commission to probe the alleged involvement of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung in the misappropriation of Rp 40 billion in funds from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) while serving as state secretary.
As expected the main opposition to the inquiry came from Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP).
Golkar had blocked the last three steering committee meetings from deciding on the issue however it could not extend its success on Monday.
Sources said that during the meeting the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) proposed a decision be made through consensus. However after some discussion no agreement could be reached.
The proposal to form an inquiry team to probe the alleged graft was submitted by over 50 legislators on Oct. 23.
They claimed that the investigation conducted by the Attorney General's Office into the matter was too slow.
The Attorney General's Office has declared former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan a suspect, with Akbar a witness in the case.
After the vote, senior Golkar member Marzuki Achmad said the party accepted the vote but warned that it would fight on.
"We already knew the result of the voting. As democrats, of course we accept it," he said.
Despite success at the steering committee, legislator Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening Party (PKB), however, was concerned about the prospects of a possible vote on the issue in the 700-member House plenary session.
"We can only hope that other legislators abide by their conscience," he said.
The Golkar Party and PPP have a combined vote of 178 seats in the House.
The key to the success of establishing an investigation would be how members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) vote with their 153 seats.
A two-thirds majority is required in the plenary for the proposal to pass.
Military/Police faction chairman Budi Harsono was also noncommittal about how his faction would vote in a plenary session despite lending its support to the steering committee.
"Whether or not we agree will be discussed later," he said.
Agun Gunanjar Sudarsa from Golkar said party members would continue their lobby claiming that a People's Consultative Assembly decree mandating the eradication of corruption should be pursued through the courts.
"The decree clearly states that the president must eradicate corruption through legal means not political," he argued.
How the steering committee voted
Faction, Seats, Absent, For, Against, Abstain: PDI Perjuangan, 22, 1, 21, -, -; Golkar, 18, -, -, 18, -; PPP, 9, -, 6, 3, -; PKB, 8, -, 8, -, -; Reform, 6, -, 6, -, -; Military/Police, 6, -, 6, -, -; PBB, 2, 1, 1, -, -; KKI, 2, -, 2, -, -; PDU, 2, -, -, -, 2; PDKB, 1, -, 1, -, -; Total, 76, 2, 51, 21, 2.