House speaker Akbar hit by graft allegations
JAKARTA (JP): Pressure has shifted to House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung in the intensifying conflict among the political elite in the country.
After President Abdurrahman Wahid's problem with the Rp 35 billion Bulog scandal, Akbar, who also chairs the Golkar Party, will have to stave off allegations of corruption committed in the past.
Akbar could not conceal his ire on Saturday when journalists asked him about a motion demanded by the National Awakening Party (PKB) to question irregularities discovered in the Civil Servants Housing Savings (Taperum) scheme worth about Rp 179.9 billion ($19.3 million).
The savings arrangement was initiated during Akbar's service as the state minister of public housing from 1993 until the resignation of former president Soeharto in May 1998.
Akbar described the proposal for an investigation merely as a pretext to take political revenge against him.
"If they want to find out the truth about Taperum, they should ask my successor first," Akbar said on the sidelines of the opening of the 44th Muhammadiyah congress at Senayan Stadium.
Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie, appointed Theo Sambuaga as Akbar's successor. Akbar served as state secretary until his resignation in April last year.
Citing a report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the legislator from PKB, Effendi Choirie, urged the House to launch an official probe into the find, which is worth Rp 179.9 billion from the total Rp 1.98 trillion fund.
"We want to show the public that the people who claim to be reformists, have actually made mistakes in the past," Effendi said on Friday.
Deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, also from PKB, insisted, however, that he had not received any reports about the proposal for an inquiry.
"The faction (PKB) chairman did not report anything special to me (about alleged corruption)," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
In 1993, then president Soeharto issued presidential Decree No. 14, requiring the country's four million civil servants to contribute between Rp 3,000 and Rp 10,000 of their monthly salary to the housing scheme. The money was automatically deducted from their salary by the state.
A civil servant who has worked for at least five years is entitled to receive about Rp 1.5 million from the council to buy a new house.
According to the decree, the fund is managed by the Advisory Council for the Civil Servants Housing Savings. State minister of public housing acts as the executive chairman of the council.
Press reports in 1997 quoted Akbar as saying 60 percent of the total fund was managed by the council, while the rest was put under the authority of the minister of finance.
"Please, it is their right to make an inquiry," Antara quoted Akbar as saying in reaction to PKB's proposal.
Abdurrahman, who cofounded PKB two years ago, has repeatedly declared his innocence in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal.
His close aides, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab, has also made similar denials.
The scandal allegedly involved Abdurrahman's masseur Suwondo and former Bulog deputy chief Sapuan. Suwondo is still at large while Sapuan has been detained.
"I have completed my task as the minister of public housing and handed the position over to my successor. You must ask him first," Akbar said, referring to his successor Theo.
But while the inter-party wrangling continued, there was also a glimmer of hope for better cooperation in the run-up to the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly in August.
Sources told The Jakarta Post that President Abdurrahman Wahid, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, Akbar Tandjung and Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab met Thursday night at the Saphire room of the Crown Plaza Hotel, South Jakarta.
On Saturday, Akbar Tandjung confirmed that the gathering took place but refused to reveal the results of the meeting, saying that it was only a dinner discussing the interpellation motion.(dja/prb)