JP/4/PUTEH

Puteh may retain top Aceh posts: Minister

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati Jakarta

Puteh will still be free to resume his duties as Aceh governor and the province's civil emergency administrator, after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has finished questioning him in a graft scam, a minister has said.

Chief security minister Hari Sabarno made the statement on Thursday, only a day after President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued an instruction to strip Puteh of his powers.

"It's no problem (as long it did not hamper the investigation)," Hari replied when asked if Puteh would be allowed to retain his governorship.

The presidential instruction, which is widely perceived as imprecise, required Puteh to comply with the KPK's summons for questioning over an alleged markup in the purchase of a Russian helicopter.

Furthermore, the Aceh administration would be run by the deputy governor, while Puteh's position as the civil emergency administrator would be taken over by the coordinating minister for political and security affairs, the instruction said.

Despite stripping him of his powers in order to face the graft inquiry, the instruction did not declare that Puteh be "suspended" or "dismissed" from his top two responsibilities.

Hari's remark drew immediate criticism from constitutional law expert Satya Arinanto, who said the instruction failed to provide legal certainty with regard to Puteh's position.

"It's strange, as the instruction will leave the door open for the governor to rule again once the KPK is no longer questioning him," he said.

"The substance of the presidential instruction leaves room for doubt with regard to the government's commitment to eradicating corruption," Satya added.

He said the President should not have hesitated over accepting a KPK order to suspend the Aceh governor in order to facilitate his interrogation, arguing that the law on the commission stipulated that other legislation was subservient to it.

"Consequently, there's no way a suspect can sue the President. Even if the suspect threatened to sue her, she could ignore it because corruption could be considered an extraordinary crime," Satya said.

Puteh's lawyers had threatened Megawati with a lawsuit had she issued a decree to suspend or dismiss their client, saying it would have been against the law if the decision had been made in the absence of a recommendation from the Aceh legislative council.

Eggi Sudjana, one of Puteh's lawyers, said his client had dropped plans to sue the President because her instruction did not dismiss him.

However, Puteh would go back to Aceh to resume his former state duties soon after being questioned by the KPK.

Separately, home affairs ministry secretary-general Sitti Nurbaya said her office was currently drafting a ministerial decree to implement the presidential instruction.

"We shall issue it soon in a bid to prevent any misinterpretation of the instruction," she said after a meeting with KPK members on Thursday.

After a meeting with Editors' Club members on Wednesday evening in Jakarta, Puteh hailed the presidential instruction, saying it was a "clever regulation" as it merely delegated his duties to other figures but kept him in his current position.

The KPK is scheduled to grill Puteh again on Aug. 2 after questioning a number of witnesses in relation to a corruption scandal that has reportedly cost the state some Rp 4 billion.