Marzuki, Fahmi won't be sworn in
M. Taufiqurrahman and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two dissident politicians from Golkar will not be sworn in as new legislators on Oct. 1 as the General Elections Commission (KPU) has written to lame duck President Megawati Soekarnoputri to suspend their inauguration.
Responding to a request from Golkar executives who sought the dismissal of Fahmi Idris and Marzuki Darusman from the new House of Representatives, the KPU decided on Thursday to give a recommendation to the outgoing president to defer the issuance of a presidential decree confirming their seats at the House.
"Their seats at the House will be frozen pending a clarification to both Pak Marzuki and Pak Fahmi and Golkar's executive board on whether the two have indeed breached the party regulations," KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said.
Ramlan said that the KPU could not just strip the dissident politicians of their seats at the House before it heard from the conflicting sides.
Fellow KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said Golkar's executive board had sought the dismissal of Fahmi and Marzuki, but the commission could not heed the demand given the intricacy of election regulation.
"Article 112 of the Law No. 12/2003 on legislative elections stipulates that an elected candidate can only be stripped of their seats only if she/he dies or falls short of meeting the requirements for becoming a House member. We don't believe that Marzuki or Fahmi meet that criteria," Mulyana said.
Fahmi and Marzuki have been expelled from Golkar after defying a standing order to support Megawati in the Sept. 20 presidential election. The leaders of Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) forged a coalition to support her bid in the runoff.
Instead, Fahmi and a group of nearly a dozen Golkar executives and dozens of regional branches declared their support for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and running mate Jusuf Kalla, who have won in a comprehensive landslide, although neither Megawati nor the election commission have officially recognized it.
Meanwhile, the prospect of a reconciliation between the dissident politicians and Golkar's executive board was dashed on Thursday as party leader Akbar Tandjung said that their dismissal was final.
"It (the dismissal) is a final decision. We will bring it up at Golkar's national meeting in December to confirm it," Akbar said on the sidelines of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Annual Session.
Akbar said that a reconciliation was not an option as the case was closed.
Fahmi and Marzuki held a meeting on Tuesday with Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono X, also a respected figure in Golkar, during which they asked the Sultan to act as a mediator in resolving their dispute with the executive board.