Legislators jeer, ridicule Akbar in House

Legislators jeer, ridicule Akbar in House

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Convicted corrupter Akbar Tandjung has clearly lost the respect
of fellow politicians as legislators frantically interrupted a
plenary session he chaired on Tuesday, questioning his
credibility to lead the meeting.

Shouting at the top of their voices, legislators interrupted
the meeting, the first Akbar has chaired after being found guilty
of corruption and sentenced to three years in prison on Sept. 4,
the legislators demanded that a petition seeking his ouster be
read out before the session proceeded.

"Assembly Decree No. VI/2000 stipulates that all government
officials with questionable credibility be suspended," legislator
Susono Yusuf of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said.

Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, the second
biggest faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), is
currently House speaker.

Susono's remark received immediate support from fellow PKB
legislators, who insisted that the petition be read out.

"It is in the House' internal ruling that all incoming
petitions must be read out in the plenary session. When was the
regulation changed?" Panda Nababan of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) asked.

Representatives of 72 legislators submitted a petition on
Monday seeking Akbar's ouster as House speaker claiming he was
not deserving of the post following his guilty verdict and three-
year prison sentence.

Akbar fought back against the onslaught, trying very hard not
to have the letter read. He also intentionally avoided mentioning
the substance of the petition, simply referring to as "a document
signed by 72 legislators."

"The House speakers had agreed to give the document to the
House steering committee for further discussion, so please let us
continue with the session," said Akbar, trying very hard to
maintain his composure.

His statement prompted some legislators to shout loudly
demanding that the session be discontinued.

They, however, calmed down after Akbar said that the document
would be distributed to all legislators later on.

The House decided on Tuesday to discuss the petition in the
steering committee on Thursday, along with a proposal to
establish a disciplinary committee for legislators that had poor
attendance during House sessions.

Dozens of legislators chose to leave the session after the
decision was taken.

"I cannot believe that the House speaker chose to ignore such
a big problem that could damage our credibility," said Dwi Ria
Latifa of PDI Perjuangan, expressing her disappointment.

Akbar, apparently wanted to reassert his authority when he
decided to chair Tuesday's plenary meeting himself, a function he
normally delegated to his deputies.

But he seemed to have underestimated fellow legislators'
resistance to his leadership after his conviction in a corruption
case involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). He has
appealed the verdict.

Calls have also increased for Akbar to resign, or at least to
voluntarily step aside pending the appeal. Akbar, however, has
resisted the demands, arguing that the court verdict is not yet
legally binding.

The last time Akbar presided over a plenary session was the
opening session of the current sitting period on Aug. 19.

The decision to discuss the petition opposing Akbar's
leadership in the House steering committee was a step forward for
a move against him as the committee will set a date for the
plenary session to discuss the issue.

In the plenary session, each faction will offer a general
standpoint on the issue before the House decides whether to
accept the proposal or not.

The House needs more than 250 legislators from different
factions to attend the session to reach a decision, and it will
require more than 125 legislators to approve the proposal to oust
Akbar.

Meanwhile, Golkar continues to strike back, claiming that they
have collected more than 80 signatures to counter the petition.

"We have gathered 80 signatures of legislators who object to
the call for Akbar's suspension," Ferry Mursyidan Baldan of
Golkar said.

Golkar would have little difficulty in gathering the
signatures as they are the second largest faction at the House
with 120 legislators.