Minister Agum officially suspended
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Jakarta/Bandung
President Megawati Soekarnoputri officially suspended Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar on Monday following Sunday's announcement of the General Elections Commission (KPU) that he was among the eligible candidates for vice president.
"Pak Agum has been officially suspended as of 2 p.m. by presidential decree," State Secretary Bambang Kesowo said after a Cabinet meeting.
Agum had been nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) as the running mate of presidential candidate Hamzah Haz, the current Vice President.
Kesowo said that the decree, effective immediately, had been given to Agum .
According to Government Regulation No.9/2004 all ministers joining the presidential race will be suspended from the Cabinet.
Megawati appointed Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno as the ad interim minister of communications (not State Minister for the Technology and Research Hatta Radjasa as reported).
Meanwhile, a few hours before the suspension, Agum attended a meeting with about 80 officials of the Ministry of Communications at the Education and Training Center of the state-owned railway company PT KAI in Bandung, West Java.
Agum mostly discussed political affairs, especially his candidacy.
"I just ask for your understanding but I'm not asking for your support," Agum, who arrived in his private BMW car and was not wearing his gray safari suit, told the meeting.
Unexpectedly he continued to provide a context for his decision to run with Hamzah. He said that before deciding to accept the offer to be Hamzah's running mate he had rejected a similar offer from Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN).
Agum said that he had rejected Amien's offer as two members of the Cabinet, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, had earlier decided to resign and would run for the election.
He admitted that he had wanted to be the running mate of Megawati, but pointed out that Megawati's team selected Hasyim Muzadi, the chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), as her vice presidential candidate.
"I told her that I did not want her to fall since this competition was too tough and she should be accompanied. But Megawati's party had actually been working in cooperation with Hasyim for months," Agum said.
Agum described how he had tried to help Megawati to maintain her seat in her party, then the Indonesian Democratic Party, in order that she would not be toppled in her party congress in Medan, North Sumatra in 1993. However, in the congress, Megawati was replaced by rival Suryadi.
His efforts to safeguard the congress, Agum said, caused him to be demoted as commander of the Army's Special Forces Command (Kopassus) to chief of staff of the Bukit Barisan military command in North Sumatra.
Before receiving his letter of suspension he expressed disappointment that his request to resign from the Cabinet had not been responded to by Megawati.