Marzuki, Fahmi won't be sworn in

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.