Legislators still insisting on Akbar inquiry

Legislators still insisting on Akbar inquiry

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite waning support from many of their colleagues, some
legislators were still demanding on Thursday the establishment of
a special inquiry into the alleged involvement of House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tanjung in the Rp 40 billion
(US$3.9 million) Bulog scandal.

The demands for an inquiry were, however, only being voiced by
legislators from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and some of
their colleagues from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan).

They contended that an inquiry by a House special committee
was important for backing up the legal process being undertaken
by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Legislator Amin Said Husni of PKB contended that the legal
process currently being pursued by AGO would be constrained by a
lack of hard evidence, much of which might have been destroyed,
and would not be able to look beyond the legally admissible
evidence.

Meanwhile, a political process in the form of a special
inquiry would be able to undertake a deeper investigation so as
to uncover the truth behind the scandal.

"Therefore, the real truth could be established by an inquiry
process in the House as this would be more flexible and would
look into the various factors at work," said the PKB legislator.

PKB, whose patron, former president Abdurrahman Wahid, was
unseated from presidency over another Bulog scandal, is the
fourth largest faction in the House and has been the most
insistent campaigner for a House special inquiry.

PKB faction chairman Yusuf Muhammad noted that the faction
would continue to seek supports from other factions for the
inquiry.

PKB, however, is not entirely alone. Some legislators from the
PDI Perjuangan, the country's largest political party, are also
still supportive of an inquiry.

"An inquiry by the House is still relevant even though Akbar
has been named a suspect. What if the legal process becomes
deadlocked? Therefore, we will still press ahead with our efforts
to establish a House special committee," Firman Jaya Daeli of the
PDI Perjuangan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Firman's demand was supported by the chairman of the PDI
Perjuangan faction in the House, Roy B Janis.

Janis said the party's executive board had ordered its faction
in the House to support the establishment of a special committee,
and this order had not been rescinded.

"As of today, we are still supporting the establishment of an
inquiry team. We have yet to change our stance," said Roy.

His unequivocal statement, however, contradicted the statement
made earlier by PDI Perjuangan secretary-general Soetjipto, who
said after a meeting of party executives that the party might not
support a special House inquiry into Akbar so as to give the
legal process a chance to succeed.

The House is scheduled to convene a plenary session on Jan. 21
to decide on the proposal to establish the special committee. The
motion was filed by 50 legislators, many of whom were from PKB
and PDI Perjuangan, in October of last year.

Meanwhile, leading anticorruption activist Teten Masduki
called on the House not to waver in its resolve to establish a
special committee.

He contended that it would be a big mistake to entrust the
Akbar case solely to the law enforcers as the prosecution process
lacked transparency and could become subject to covert political
interference.

"Through the establishment of the House special committee,
Akbar's case will be able to be examined in a transparent manner
by the competing parties in the House, and this would help and
pave the way for a fair and transparent legal process," said
Teten, after addressing a legal discussion here.