Minister okays new screening of House members
Minister okays new screening of House members
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudradjat yesterday said he fully endorsed the call to subject members of the House of Representatives to another round of screening for possible past communist links.
Edi however cautioned that those who made the allegations that 50 House members had communist pasts must also be prepared to account for their actions.
"The main thing is whoever sits in the House must be clean from past links with outlawed parties," he told reporters after a book launching at the office of the Suara Pembaruan daily.
He said Bakorstanas, the internal security agency, should go ahead with the screening.
Army Chief Gen. R. Hartono, who is one of the chiefs of Bakorstanas, disclosed early this week that the agency plans to conduct a new screening process following the allegations.
The allegation was made by an organization which calls itself the Foundation for Democratic Society Solidarity.
The group staged two separate demonstrations in the past week, one at the House of Representatives last week and another outside the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday.
The group's leader, Bambang Heryanto, said he had the names of 50 House members whom he believed had past links with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Bambang said he had already presented the names to the military representatives in the House and refused to give the names to the public.
On Thursday, the organization handed an expanded list of 80 names -- including the 50 House members and members of regional legislative councils and some government officials -- to officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Edi said yesterday that those who made the allegations must also be prepared to face the consequences of their actions.
All House members have already been required to undergo a tough screening process held by Bakorstanas before they were allowed to run during the election.
The screening includes tracing the possibility of past links with the PKI and other communist organizations, directly, or indirectly. Those whose close relatives were involved are screened out.
Similar screenings are required of civil servants, members of the Armed Forces, politicians and certain "strategic professions" including teaching and journalism.
The government banned the PKI in 1966, less than a year after the abortive coup which it blamed on the party.
Former Home Minister Rudini, commenting on the fresh allegations, said yesterday that the authorities should conduct the screening immediately.
"Immediate investigations would benefit both the public and the legislators concerned. If the allegations aren't true the legislators' names will be cleared," Rudini told The Jakarta Post.
Ismail Hasan Metareum, the House's deputy speaker, said that he was not aware of any plan to hold a new screening for House members.
Ismail also said the meeting of House leaders scheduled for the first week of January has not listed the issue in its agenda.
Rudini, who now heads the Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia, said a new investigation should worry neither the legislators nor the political parties they represent.
The former Army general defended the screening as necessary.
"ABRI cannot afford to take risks," he said. (01/imn/anr)