House set to probe scandals

House set to probe scandals

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives voted
overwhelmingly on Monday to launch an inquiry into two scandals
-- Bulog-gate and Brunei-gate -- which many believe could
implicate President Abdurrahman Wahid.

A second motion, to launch an inquiry into the finances of the
State Logistics Agency (Bulog), however, was defeated.

Even most of the President's own National Awakening Party
(PKB) faction voted for the House to exercise its right to
investigate the two scandals.

Of the 356 House members who participated in the vote, 307
voted for, four voted against and 45 abstained.

As many as 28 PKB members voted for the motion, although their
leaders have said that the inquiry was being used by the
President's critics to topple him from office.

The scandal at Bulog surfaced in April when it was disclosed
that Rp 35 billion (US$4.2 million) of funds belonging to the
agency's employees foundation had been diverted, allegedly at the
President's request, to finance humanitarian programs in Aceh.
The money, however, reportedly went into the pockets of people
close to the President.

Bulog's former deputy chairman, Sapuan, is currently standing
trial on corruption charges in Jakarta for his role in the
scandal. Another key suspect in the affair, the President's
private masseur, Suwondo, is still at large.

The President's denial of complicity in the Bulog-gate affair
only led to Brunei-gate, after he disclosed that instead of using
Bulog's funds, he had sent $2 million of money donated by Brunei
ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for humanitarian programs in Aceh.

Receipt of that money was never reported to the government in
the first place. The President has since changed his story on two
occasions, first saying that the money was a personal donation by
the Brunei ruler to him, and later that he had never received the
money and that instead it was a donation by the Sultan to a
number of local non-governmental organizations.

The inquiry follows an earlier confrontation between the
President and the House over his decision to sack two of his
economics ministers in April, whom he accused of corruption. When
the President was summoned to testify before the House in July,
he was forced to issue an apology.

The proposal to launch the inquiry into the two scandals
followed a petition by 265 House members, including many from the
biggest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), chaired by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The second proposal, to investigate the past and present
financial activities of Bulog, came from a petition by 12
legislators from minority factions.

The motion was defeated, despite an endorsement from the PDI
Perjuangan faction. Of the 358 who cast their votes, 162 opposed
the motion, 152 supported it and 44 abstained.

Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjoguritno, who lead the plenary
session, told reporters later that the House would set up a
special team to investigate the two cases next month.

The team would be sent to visit Brunei to seek clarification,
he said.

"It's up to the team whether the President is questioned or
not," he said when asked of the prospect of summoning
Abdurrahman.

In Padang, West Sumatra, People's Consultative Assembly
Speaker Amien Rais hailed the House's vote to launch an inquiry
into the two scandals as further proof of the greater power that
the legislative branch enjoyed today.

"It shows that the House is no longer subordinate to the
wishes of the executive branch, as in the past," Amien told
Antara.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Matori Abdul Djalil, meanwhile, said
the decision to carry out the two investigations was being used
by certain political parties to bring down the President and did
not reflect the aspirations of the people.

PKB House members insisted they voted for the motion to show
their commitment to upholding good governance and a clean
government and that it was with consistency that the House
approved the second motion.

The fact that some factions only endorsed the first motion
indicated their real motive behind the investigation, they said.

"This is not suspicion anymore. Everybody can see that most
House members only care about their political interests rather
than the people's interests," Matori said.

He singled out the Golkar Party, accusing it of adopting a
double standard and supporting the motion to launch the
investigation of the scandals but not the second, related to the
past and present financial activities of Bulog.

"I think Golkar has proven that it is an obstacle to the
reformation movement," he told The Jakarta Post by phone.

He suggested that Golkar would do a great service to the
nation if all their members turned themselves in to the Attorney
General's Office and admitted their wrongdoings during the 32-
year rule of former president Soeharto. (dja/jun)