PDI Perjuangan delays House decision on Akbar

PDI Perjuangan delays House decision on Akbar

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although March 18 is fast approaching, the ruling Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has still deferred
making any decision on whether or not to support the setting up
of a House inquiry into House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Many say that the party's vacillation over the inquiry is due
to fears that any such move would destroy the loose coalition
supporting President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government.

Speaking after the party's weekly meeting led by chairwoman
Megawati here on Tuesday, PDI Perjuangan secretary-general
Sutjipto said that his party would prioritize the legal process
over the political process in dealing with the corruption
allegations against Akbar.

House factions have agreed to delay until March 18 a decision
on whether or not to set up an inquiry to investigate Akbar, who
has been formally charged as a suspect in a Rp 54.6 billion
financial scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Akbar, who is also the chairman of Golkar, one of the
political parties that played a pivotal role in catapulting
Megawati into the presidency in July 2001, was detained by the
Attorney General's Office on Thursday.

Golkar, the second biggest faction in the House with 120
seats, has slammed the detention as being politically motivated
and threatened to withdraw its support from Megawati's
administration, a move that could put an end to her young
government.

Speculation is rife that the PDI Perjuangan, the biggest
faction in the House with 153 representatives, will eventually
withhold its support for a House investigation of Akbar in
exchange for Golkar's support for Megawati's administration.

Sutjipto said on Tuesday that the PDI Perjuangan was trying to
convince Golkar leaders that Akbar's detention was based purely
on the law and that there had been no political intervention in
the case.

"We are trying to bring about an understanding that all this
is in line with purely legal procedures and has been carried out
as it should be. We need to get this through to them," Sutjipto
said without elaborating what concrete steps would be taken to
restore amicable ties with Golkar.

Several Golkar executives have accused the PDI Perjuangan,
especially its chairwoman Megawati, of intervening in the Akbar
investigation.

Meanwhile, deputy secretary-general of the Golkar Party, Bomer
Pasaribu, said on Tuesday that Golkar would not pull out its
members from the cabinet despite the political row with the
ruling party, the PDI Perjuangan.

"We will be more critical of the government, but so far there
has been no decision by the party to pull out Golkar ministers
from the cabinet," he told The Jakarta Post.

Three Golkar ministers serve in the Megawati cabinet.

Golkar's executive board held a plenary meeting chaired by
Agung Laksono on Monday evening and pledged that the party would
not be so quick to acquiese in government decisions.

A number of activist groups alleged on Tuesday that the
Attorney General's Office had yet to investigate the substance of
the case: the alleged misuse of funds by Golkar Party figures.

The activists said that the office had so far merely focused
on investigating the misuse of funds in the distribution of basic
necessities by the Raudlatul Jannah Foundation.

The Joint Secretariat of the Petisi 50 Working Committee, the
Alliance of Muslim Parties, the Vigilant Committee against the
New Order, and the Association of Muslim Students (MPO) conveyed
a demand to the PDI Perjuangan faction in the House that an
inquiry be established to make sure the investigation proceeded
along the right course.

The Joint Secretariat also demanded that the Attorney
General's Office summon and question persons who allegedly had
knowledge about or were involved in the case, including Fadel
Muhammad, M.S. Hidayat, Enggartiasto Lukita, Iris Indiramurti and
Setya Novanto, all of whom are former Golkar treasurers.