House resorts to voting on BPK nominations
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) has agreed to send forward three nominees for the powerful position of chairman of the Supreme Audit Board (BPK), but not before a rare vote was forced upon it by the minority United Development Party (PPP).
The House dropped former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, known as "Mr. Clean", from the list of names put forward to President B.J. Habibie for a final selection. His nomination was supported by the PPP.
The removal of Mar'ie paved the way to the coveted job for Satrio B. Joedono, Indonesia's ambassador to France. Although Billy was also known as Mr. Clean when he served as trade minister before being posted to Paris, some see him as being too close to Habibie to be able to maintain his independence.
The other two candidates have little chance of being selected and were included simply to meet the requirement for the House to present three names. They are Bambang Wahyudi, a lecturer at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, and Bambang Triaji, the current secretary general of the audit board.
It was a hollow victory for Golkar, which together with the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction used its muscles to strike Mar'ie's name from the list.
In the vote, two Golkar members -- Mubha Kahar Muang and Evita Asmalda -- sided with the PPP and insisted that Mar'ie's name be included in the list.
Muang later said that the House should learn to respect differences of opinion and that voting was the way to settle them.
Evita and Muang said they were ready to receive whatever sanctions Golkar had in store for them.
"I was representing the people rather than my organization," Evita said of her behavior.
Both said they felt that Mar'ie, renowned for his commitment to fighting corruption, was a more suitable candidate for the job.
Four other Golkar representatives -- GPH Joyokusumo, Thomas Suyatno, Prof. Juanda and Oke Supit -- abstained.
"I did not vote (with Golkar) because I had to follow my conscience," Joyokusumo said later.
The vote was taken after the House reached a deadlock over the three candidates to be sent to Habibie.
Golkar, ABRI and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) wanted Joedono, while the PPP wanted Mar'ie.
Of the 296 members attending the plenary session, 225 voted for Joedono and 67 supported Mar'ie. Four members abstained.
House Deputy Speaker Abdul Gafur was widely criticized by PPP members when he ruled that the vote should be done by counting bodies, requiring members to stand up when each alternative was called out.
PPP representatives said the vote should have been conducted by a secret ballot.
"I believe many legislators from other factions would have voted for Mar'ie if we had used a secret ballot," Bachtiar Chamsyah from the PPP faction said.
Another PPP representative, Soleh Khalid, demanded that the House secretariat provide the facilities required to hold secret ballots in the future.
"The House should be equipped with voting facilities because we will be voting more frequently from now on." he said.
In the past, voting was abhorred as a "liberal" action and the Golkar and ABRI factions used their muscle in behind the scenes negotiations to ensure consensus on all decisions.
Tayo Tarmadi, spokesman for the ABRI faction, said Joedono's nomination was consistent with the agreement which was reached by the House consultative committee on Sept. 11.
The BPK chair has been vacant since January, when J.B. Sumarlin reached the mandatory retirement age. His deputy, former National Police chief Gen. Kunarto, refused the position when it was offered to him in July after it became apparent that he would be put under pressure to accept a deputy "close" to President Habibie if he took the job.
Mar'ie meanwhile told Antara on Thursday that he had rejected an offer from Habibie to serve as ambassador in a European country, saying that would rather stay in the country at a time of social and political turmoil.
"I thank the government, but I'd prefer to remain in the country," Mar'ie was quoted as saying. (rms)