House presses forward with Akbar inquiry

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.