House to deabte Akbar investigation
House to deabte Akbar investigation
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin a debate on
Thursday on the establishment of a special committee in charge of
investigating House Speaker Akbar Tandjung's alleged involvement
in a Rp 54.6 (about US$5 million) corruption case.
Members of the House Deliberation Body will convene and set a
schedule to decide when legislators will call a plenary session
to vote on the possibility of creating such a committee.
"Tomorrow (Thursday), Pak Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno (a House
Deputy Speaker) will preside over a Bamus meeting to arrange the
schedule. I am optimistic, the proposal to form a special
committee will be approved," House Deputy Speaker Muhaimin
Iskandar said after a leadership meeting.
The leadership meeting was attended by only three of the five
top leaders, Muhaimin, House Deputy Speaker A.M. Fatwa, House
Speaker Akbar Tandjung in addition to the secretary-general and
staff of the Deliberation Body.
Akbar, also chairman of Golkar Party, was implicated in the
alleged misuse of Rp 54.6 billion funds belonging to the State
Logistic Agency (Bulog) when he served as state secretary/Cabinet
secretary in 1999 during then-president B.J. Habibie's tenure.
There are suspicions among many that the money, which was
meant to help the needy who were most affected by the economic
crisis, was used to finance Golkar's campaign activities as the
embattled Habibie was struggling for re-election.
Akbar said as a legislator he would let the current mechanisms
determine whether the proposal would get support or not. "I have
no authority to reject the proposal. As a House speaker, my
authority is the same as that of any other legislator," he
claimed.
At least 50 House members have lobbied for the creation of the
special committee.
The Attorney General's Office is currently probing the case,
but some legal analysts and non-governmental organizations
believe there should be a House inquiry as well.