Lawmakers prepare move to suspend House speaker

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.