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had ordered its faction in the House to support the establishment of a special committee, and this order had not been rescinded.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.