Legislator Sri Bintang plans to sue PPP leaders
Legislator Sri Bintang plans to sue PPP leaders
JAKARTA (JP): Outspoken legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas
announced yesterday his intention to sue the leaders of his
United Development Party for their plans to dismiss him from the
House of Representatives.
Bintang met yesterday with House Speaker Wahono, who has yet
to approve the United Development Party's (PPP) proposal, to
explain his position.
After the meeting, Bintang declared that the PPP move to have
him fired was unconstitutional. "I don't have a personal interest
in this (lawsuit). But I want to correct the House procedures now
in force to have a legislator dismissed."
PPP leaders last week announced their intention to have
Bintang removed from the House of Representatives (DPR). He has
been accused of transgressing official party lines on a number of
issues and for calling the state ideology of Pancasila into
question.
Bintang, who was awarded a seat in the House after helping PPP
in the 1992 election campaign, has increasingly become more of a
liability than an asset. His outspokenness has routinely
contrasted sharply with the conservative stance that PPP leaders
take on most issues.
PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum handed a letter to Wahono
last week in which he requested to meet with the House leadership
to discuss Bintang's dismissal.
Bintang did not say if he planned to file the lawsuit in a
district court or a state administrative court. He said he would
have to first consult with his team of lawyers, that will include
Hartono Mardjono, a senior PPP politician.
He is following in the footsteps of Bambang Warih Koesoemo,
another legislator facing dismissal, this time by Golkar, the
dominant faction in the House.
Bambang's case has not been settled but he also has disclosed
his intention to sue Golkar leaders for tarnishing his good name
and for accusing him of being unethical during his tenure in the
House.
Bintang said that although the practice of "recalling"
legislators is recognized by regulations, it is still
"illegitimate" and violates the principle of democracy.
A legislator sits in the House to serve the interests of the
people, he asserted, and not the political organizations that
appoint them.
The 1945 Constitution, he said, recognizes three kinds of
sovereignty: legal sovereignty, constitutional sovereignty and
people sovereignty. "If I am to be withdrawn, it must be done
directly by the people. If I am accused of breaking the law, it
must be proven by the court. If I am accused of violating the
constitution, it must be proved by the MPR (People Consultative
Assembly)."
Bintang, however determined, is encountering problems in his
plan to sue the party leaders because he still has not received
any official notice of dismissal.
He said he knew of the party leaders' moves only from the
media. "The PPP leaders won't give me a letter, document, or any
form of evidence in connection with the dismissal plan." (29)