'Lies enough for House to form inquiry on Akbar'

'Lies enough for House to form inquiry on Akbar'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Discrepancies and lies, which have surfaced during the trials
concerning a high-profile graft case implicating House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, should encourage
legislators to establish a special committee to investigate the
scandal, politicians said on Friday.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) said that it was now
appropriate for the House to commence investigations into an
embezzlement case involving Rp 40 billion in funds of the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog), after key witnesses admitted telling
lies to save Akbar.

"Currently, the public has increasingly become convinced that
the legal mechanisms for eradicating corruption, collusion and
nepotism in the country are insufficient," chairman of the PKB
faction in the House Ali Masykur Musa was quoted by Antara as
saying.

He added that a political approach to reveal the clandestine
scenarios behind the scandal, dubbed "Buloggate II", was
absolutely essential.

A key witness in the scandal, businessman Winfried Simatupang,
confessed to the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that he
had tried to save Akbar from the scandal by falsifying documents
on the use of the Rp 40 billion.

Akbar and other defendants have claimed that the funds were
used to provide food packages for a charity program for the poor
between March 1999 and September 1999.

However, Winfried and another suspect, chairman of the Islamic
Raudlatul Jannah Foundation Dadang Sukandar, later admitted that
the funds had not been spent on the charity project.

Winfried, who served as a contractor hired to distribute the
food packages, subsequently returned the money through the
Attorney General's Office.

"All of this indicates that there is a case to answer in
Buloggate II, which should therefore be uncovered through the
political mechanism of a House special committee," said Masykur,
whose PKB has staunchly promoted the inquiry.

He urged all factions, particularly the major ones in the
House, to take this timely opportunity to support the widespread
demand for the establishment of a special committee.

"We urge the factions to once again consider seriously the
deliberations on the need to form the special committee," Masykur
added.

Support for the establishment of the inquiry committee was
also expressed by noted economist Sjahrir, who chairs the
Alliance for New Indonesia (PIB), scheduled to become a political
party in September 2002.

Speaking at a media conference on Friday, he said legal and
political measures should be taken simultaneously against Akbar,
so as to reveal completely the goings-on in Buloggate II.

Such an approach was normal in other countries to deal with
cases implicating top politicians, he argued.

The appeal comes two days before the House reopens its
discussions on Monday, after a recess of more than one month,
since late March. It is expected to again decide whether or not
to approve the much-demanded inquiry committee later this month.

Despite arduous and time-consuming plenary sessions, the House
several times failed to establish a committee of inquiry into the
financial scandal, considered by many to be necessary to seek
justice over Akbar's alleged involvement in it.