House resorts to voting on BPK nominations

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)