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 "If I am to be withdrawn, it must be done directly by the people.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)