'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.