Many legislators have yet to submit wealth report

Many legislators have yet to submit wealth report

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After several delays, the Public Servants' Wealth Audit
Commission (KPKPN) announced on Wednesday the names of
legislators who had not submitted a list of their assets.

Topping the list were legislators from President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), with almost half of the total 168 defiant lawmakers
coming from the ruling party. PDI Perjuangan has 153 members in
the House of Representatives (DPR).

PDI Perjuangan legislators who did not submit their wealth
reports included veteran politician Abdul Madjid, party deputy
secretary-general Pramono Anung, Panda Nababan and Firman Jaya
Daeli of House Commission II, Benny Pasaribu of House Commission
VIII and party deputy treasurer Agnita Singedekane Irsal.

Legislators Zulfan Lindan, Julius Usman and Didi Supriyanto --
three PDI Perjuangan legislators who were at the forefront in
criticizing former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid for his
alleged corruption -- were also on the KPKPN list of noncompliant
legislators.

Guruh Irianto Soekarno Putra, a brother of President Megawati,
also did not submit his wealth inventory.

Golkar Party legislators came second, with 36 of its 120
legislators failing to declare their wealth to KPKPN by
Wednesday. They included businessman Enggartiasto Lukito,
Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who is the son of former minister of
energy and mineral resources Ginanjar Kartasasmita, chairman of
House Commission I Ibrahim Ambong and Ferry Mursydan Baldan.

Former president Soeharto's half-brother Probo Sutedjo and Gus
Dur's nephew Syaifullah Yusuf as well as Ali Masykur Musa of the
National Awakening Party (PKB) were among the defiant
legislators.

Anticorruption, collusion, and nepotism champion Alvin Lie of
the Reform Faction, controversial legislators Abdul Qadir
Djaelani and Hartono Mardjono, and Crescent Star Party (PBB)
chairman MS Kaban also failed to beat the deadline on Wednesday.

KPKPN deputy chairman for the legislators' wealth Abdullah
Hehamahua emphasized on Wednesday that the legislators must
declare their assets to KPKPN within two weeks or "face stern
sanctions".

"We set a two-week deadline starting today (Wednesday) for
these legislators to hand over their asset report. Should they
miss the deadline, we will impose stern sanctions against them,"
Hehamahua said from his office in Central Jakarta.

He did not specifically disclose what kind of sanctions the
commission would impose on noncooperative legislators, saying:
"Just wait and see. I can't reveal that to you right now."

Hehamahua also said on Wednesday that some 110 members of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) had failed to declare their
wealth and their names were expected to be announced to the
public on Friday.

KPKPN was set up by Gus Dur in 1999 in a bid to curb rampant
corruption, collusion and nepotism in governmental institutions.

Hehamahua earlier said that KPKPN had no power to force
defiant legislators to declare their assets as Law No. 28/1999 on
clean governance did not provide KPKPN with the authority to
impose stern sanctions on legislators who refused to report their
assets.

Nevertheless, he once revealed that KPKPN could file a
complaint with police over matters that "could be categorized as
crimes".

KPKPN also said earlier that it believed that five of the 126
legislators from the House and MPR, whose wealth declarations had
been checked by the commission, were involved in corruption,
collusion and nepotism practices.