Legislators indifferent, delay talks on Akbar
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives' steering committee (Bamus) on Thursday agreed to postpone the deliberation of a petition against its convicted speaker Akbar Tandjung until the end of October, indicating that the legislators were halfhearted in the maneuver.
The delay was the second time after the House decided to shelve its discussion on Sept. 19.
Deputy House speaker A.M. Fatwa of the Reform faction who presided over the Bamus meeting on Thursday cited the lack of time available to discuss the matter.
"We discussed the agenda for the plenary meeting on (Friday) and the time is not enough to deal with this petition. It (the petition against Akbar) will be discussed on the next parliamentary session," Fatwa told the press after the meeting.
The plenary meeting on Friday would mark the ending of this sitting period. Legislators will go for a one-month recess.
The repeated delay reminds the public of the proposal to set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the graft case involving Akbar before he was declared guilty.
After a series of delays in the steering committee and in the plenary session, the House finally voted against the proposal to form an inquiry team several months ago.
In the meantime, two legislators Susono Yusuf and Dwi Ria Latifa, who initiated the petition, expressed their disappointment over the delay.
"I think the delay is just political manipulation by the big parties," Susono of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said without giving elaboration.
Dwi Ria of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the largest House faction, meanwhile, said that although she attended the steering committee's meeting she was not allowed to speak out as she was not a member of the committee.
"I attended the meeting to represent the 72 legislators," she added, referring to the legislators who signed the petition.
Signs of declining enthusiasm to force Akbar, also chairman of the Golkar Party, to relinquish his leadership post in the House were in evidence since the beginning of the meeting.
The meeting that was supposed to start at 2 p.m., but was delayed for an hour because only few members were present at the meeting.
The meeting was finally begun an hour late and was attended by 40 members of the 76-strong committee.
The Central Jakarta District Court on Sept. 4 convicted Akbar of misusing Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and sentenced him to three years in prison.
The panel of judges, however, did not immediately order his detention and he is still free awaiting appeal.
Following the conviction of Akbar, Susono and Dwi Ria collected signatures of legislators in support of a petition against Akbar.
Despite no precedence, the petition, if it gains enough support, could lead to a vote of no confidence against Akbar, leading to his dismissal.