PKB official labels Sjahrir Soeharto lackey

PKB official labels Sjahrir Soeharto lackey

JAKARTA (JP): The National Awakening Party (PKB) has accused
noted economist Sjahrir of acting in the interests of former
president Soeharto when he called on President Abdurrahman Wahid
on Monday to stand down for failing to pursue the reform agenda.

Legislator A. Effendy Choirie, a spokesman for the party
founded by Abdurrahman, also claimed on Wednesday that Sjahrir
had personal motives in calling for the President's resignation.

"We feel that Sjahrir's statement represented Soeharto's
interests," Effendy said referring to the widely publicized media
conference held by Sjahrir on Monday.

He noted that Sjahrir on that occasion was accompanied by
Benny Soetrisno, a businessman who runs a textile company
belonging to Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo.

He also noted the presence of Masmiar Mangiang, chief editor
of the Neraca daily which has been involved in a land dispute
with the Nahdlatul Ulama organization formerly chaired by
Abdurrahman.

"So, this is an effort to shake the government which has been
conducting a legal process against Soeharto, his sons and
cronies," Effendy remarked.

"It's Sjahrir's right to vent his opinions, but we believe
that he has done so because of his own personal disappointment,"
he said.

Effendy was alluding to the fact that Sjahrir is not in the
cabinet while Rizal Ramli, who was a junior college activist to
Sjahrir, is now the Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

Sjahrir said on Monday that the reform process which started
in 1998 was now as good as dead because Abdurrahman had failed to
put the reform agenda into effect as he had promised when elected
president a year ago. He cited the failure of the government to
prosecute human rights abusers and continued corruption in the
government as evidence of the administration's shortcomings.

Effendy said that in making his statement on Monday, Sjahrir
had gone outside his area of competence, namely economics.

"He is smart in cloaking his hidden agenda with reform
objectives," said Effendy, a former editor of the Surabaya-based
Surya daily.

The attacks against the President by Sjahrir and others were
politically motivated, but they would not succeed in bringing him
down, he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR), Amien Rais, said on Wednesday that President Abdurrahman
should resign if allegations of his involvement in two financial
scandals were proven.

The House of Representatives is currently investigating the
"Buloggate" and "Bruneigate" scandals, both of which may involve
the President or his close aides.

If its inquiries support the allegations, the House could
recommend the MPR to convene an emergency session, Amien said,
referring to an impeachment process.

"But I would prefer to ask Abdurrahman to resign. It would be
less expensive," Amien told a seminar on the search for a
national leader organized by KAHMI, the association of alumni of
the Muslim Students Union.

Amien also accused the President of betraying the mandate of
the people to eradicate corruption, collusion, and nepotism
(KKN), pointing to the two scandals and his statement on delaying
the legal process against three businessmen supposedly on the
grounds of their contribution to Indonesia's exports.

He also said the President had failed to safeguard the unity
of the country given the growing demands for independence in
Irian Jaya and Aceh. "We are on the verge of losing two more
provinces on the heels of East Timor," he said.

Amien took the opportunity to apologize to the nation for it
was he and his "Central Axis" faction in the MPR who nominated
Abdurrahman for president last year.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung told the seminar that an
extraordinary session of the MPR could only be called if the
President had violated the Constitution or the Broad Outlines of
State Policy.

Akbar said that if the Bruneigate and Buloggate allegations
were proven, that should be enough to start an impeachment
process.

On the claim that the President has lost his popular
legitimacy, Akbar said: "There must be a strong reason why people
do not want him any longer... replacing Gus Dur is possible. The
mechanism for that is through an extraordinary session of the
MPR." ((02/jun)