Legislators opposed to inquiry on Akbar case

Legislators opposed to inquiry on Akbar case

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Legislators appeared to eat their own words when they signaled
on Tuesday that they might not press forward with investigations
into Golkar Party chief Akbar Tandjung's alleged abuse of power.

The signal came only a day after a steering committee of the
House of Representatives agreed to a proposal to discuss the
possibility of forming an inquiry into Akbar's case.

Chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) Hamzah Haz, who
is also Indonesia's Vice President, said that his faction might
change its views on the establishment of a special committee to
investigate the case.

"It is still possible that we might change our opinion at the
coming plenary meeting. PPP will follow the aspirations of the
people and other factions, as they also represent the people,"
Hamzah said, referring to a plenary meeting scheduled for Jan.
21.

Akbar is charged with misappropriating Rp 40 billion in funds
from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) while serving as state
secretary.

The agreement to press forward with the Akbar inquiry on
Monday came only after several postponements of the House's
agenda to discuss this proposal. It is not immediately clear if
the repeated postponements had been done on purpose or not.

Hamzah said that the national interest should take priority
over other interests and that it was better for the nation to
deal with future problems and not past ones.

"Only if it (the establishment of the committee) did not
jeopardize political stability, would we go ahead," Hamzah said.

The House steering committee comprises 76 members, dominated
by four major political parties, including PDI Perjuangan,
Golkar, PPP and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Of the 74 members present at Monday's committee meeting, only
21 rejected the proposal, 18 from Golkar and 3 from PPP. When
legislators convene for a meeting in January, there will be a
full, 500-strong plenary meeting.

The 153-strong Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) is faced with internal bickering.

Party member Haryanto Taslam, in an apparent attempt to silent
critics said, "Well, I think we are still solid."

Golkar Party officials have claimed that most major parties
also received money from Bulog.

Ferry Mursyidan Baldan from Golkar said, "We will argue and
try hard to halt the plan to form an inquiry committee."

Golkar, the second biggest faction, controls 120 seats in the
House.

Hamdan Zoelva from the Crescent Star Party (PBB) said, "In
principal, the House has authority to oversee the current
government, not a past one."

PBB, which has two seats on the steering committee, supported
the plan to discuss the formation of an inquiry committee on
Monday.

But Hamdan said it did not necessarily mean that PBB supported
the establishment of such a committee.

Chozin Chumadi from PPP, which has 58 seats in the House, said
that in principle his faction supported the fight against
corruption, but as regards the proposal for an inquiry committee,
that would depend on each PPP member.

At the plenary meeting in January, the 50 legislators who
supported the proposal would have to give a further explanation
about their plan.

Chairman of the military/police faction Budi Harsono
reiterated that the final stance of his faction would be revealed
at the plenary meeting in January.

The House has in the past established various special
committees of inquiry dealing with issues ranging from corruption
to human rights abuse.

Results of the inquiries have become recommendations for the
government.