Lawmakers prepare move to suspend House speaker
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several legislators have moved into action to suspend disgraced House Speaker Akbar Tandjung as talk mounts for a petition to call for a disciplinary committee to consider the case.
Several legislators, when contacted on Monday, said their peers were collecting signatures to support action against the embattled Akbar, who was convicted last week of embezzling Rp 40 billion (US$4.5 million) of state funds.
No one has seen the list, but Susono Yusuf of the National Awakening Party (PKB) confirmed that he and the others were planning to rally support through a petition.
"We've held intensive meetings with legislators from different factions," Susono told The Jakarta Post.
He declined to name them but said they were more than 10 -- the least number of legislators needed to call for a disciplinary committee.
"I've heard about it (the petition) but haven't seen it myself," said Firman Jaya Daeli of the House's largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
The initiators aim to collect as many signatures as possible. If the petition is signed by more than half of the House's 500 members, it would result in a vote of no-confidence against Akbar.
Talk of the petition comes amid an apparent reluctance among House factions to target Akbar. He is the chairman of the Golkar Party, which owns the second largest faction at the House.
However, the move to unseat Akbar would come up against an ugly fight from Golkar, which is determined to retain Akbar as its chairman and as House speaker despite the conviction.
Golkar executive Rambe Kamarulzaman, who is also secretary of the party's House faction, contended that the disciplinary committee could only act on violations made while the offender was a legislator. Akbar was convicted on charges when he was the state secretary in 1999, months before he became House speaker.
He called on other factions to drop the plan of action against Akbar. Few factions may resist Golkar's demands.
The party is deeply rooted in the bureaucracy, has strong ties with the military and has many of the House's most experienced lobbyists.
Much rests on PDI Perjuangan's position to lead a move against Akbar. But analysts say the winner of the 1999 general election relies on Golkar's support to maintain the country's fragile political stability.
Last July PDI Perjuangan voted down an attempt to launch a political investigation of Akbar over the graft scandal.
Its meeting on Akbar last Friday ended without reaching an agreement on the next move against Akbar. Instead, the party's House faction chairman Roy B.B. Janis left it up to the members to take their own position. He said the faction would support any calls for a disciplinary committee, but fell short of making this its goal.
Other large factions have kept quiet as well, including the United Development Party (PPP) and PKB. The Reforms faction, while openly demanding Akbar's resignation or suspension, refused to make the first move.
But underneath the factions' apparent reluctance, opposition against Akbar continues to boil.
"I'll support a committee, but our faction hasn't met yet to discuss Akbar," said PKB member Amanulloh Abdur Rohim.
PPP member Mohammad Husnie Thamrin voiced a similar position, adding that the uncertainty surrounding Akbar's post had to end.
Golkar is meanwhile gearing up to talk with other factions into leaving Akbar alone. Its executives said over the weekend that they were open for talks to keep Akbar's post as House speaker.
But legislators are wary about Golkar's mood to talk, saying that they would not want to link Akbar's conviction with politics.
"I hope Golkar won't lobby on this, these are separate issues," PDI Perjuangan Didi Supriyanto has said.
Hamdan Zoelva of the Reforms faction said openly that his faction might be open for negotiation but wanted to know first what Golkar would offer.