PPP, Bintang set for 'all-out' legal battle

PPP, Bintang set for 'all-out' legal battle

JAKARTA (JP): Leading members of the United Development Party
(PPP) looked set to engage in a legal battle with legislator Sri
Bintang Pamungkas, who is suing the party for dismissing him from
the House of Representatives.

"I'll wage an all-out legal battle," said Bintang who was
recently dismissed from his post at the House of Representatives
by the party. "This is a country which upholds the supremacy of
law, and I see what I'm about to do as an exercise to prove how
laws are enforced.

"I won't just sit back and let the party leaders hurl
accusations at me because they are not backing the charges up
with evidence," he told The Jakarta Post.

Bintang was responding to reports that some leading members of
the PPP said that they will see Bintang in court.

Although the PPP has yet to state its stance on Bintang's
plan, Ali Hardi Kiaidemak and H.M. Abduh Paddare have indicated
that the party will proceed with its plan to have Bintang removed
from the House, and that Bintang can proceed with his lawsuit.

"Bintang always screams about his individual rights being
abused, but he forgets that the rights of the party are above the
rights of individual members," Abduh was reported to have said by
Pelita newspaper.

Abduh accused Bintang of being out of line and of violating
many of the organization's rules.

"If these (violations) occurred in the military, Bintang would
have been locked up, discharged or even shot," Abduh said. "The
party has been very tolerant of him, but his behavior has only
worsened."

Abduh's attack became more personal when he described Bintang
as an "arrogant man who thinks he's the smartest person around,
and always looks down on other people."

"Bintang's statements have often upset Buya (PPP chairman
Ismail Hasan Metareum)," Abduh recounted.

Bintang told the Post that the PPP leaders have, by dismissing
him on some "fabricated" and "baseless" charges, tarnished the
legislature as well.

Venue

"The House is a body which, despite its many shortcomings, the
people trust as the venue to voice their aspirations," he said.

He also refuted an accusation by a PPP leader that he was
determined to bring the party leaders to court because he did not
want to lose the material and financial facilities he has been
receiving as a legislator.

"I'm preparing a lawsuit against PPP leaders because this is a
matter of justice and legal truth," he said. "People must not go
around making arbitrary accusations."

"Even if I'm no longer a legislator, I will still sue them
because of the accusations they have hurled against me concerned
my position as an Indonesian citizen," he said.

"I'm not suing them because I want to remain a House member,"
he added.

He also pointed out that he is willing to be dismissed "if the
people want to remove me, because I violated any laws, which have
yet to be proved in court, or because I violated the
Constitution, in which case it's the People's Consultative
Assembly that should prove my guilt."

Ali Hardi admitted that PPP had made a mistake in recruiting
Bintang in 1992 and posting him to the House the next year, by-
passing various procedures.

"We hoped that by recruiting him, Bintang would be more
professional and contribute to the party's performance, like what
economic analyst Kwik Kian Gie's contributed to PDI (the
Indonesian Democratic Party)," he said.

Bintang told the Post he was still in the process of
establishing a team of lawyers to fight his case. He wasn't sure
if he was going to file the lawsuit in a district court or in a
state administrative court.

He acknowledged that one of the team members will be Hartono
Mardjono, a senior PPP politician who was instrumental in having
the party recruit Bintang in the early 1990s.

Political scientist Arbi Sanit told the Post the dismissal of
Bintang proved the "oligarchic nature" of the PPP.

"All the party's elite is concerned with is their interests in
the organization and in the structure of the state," he said.

He blamed chairman Ismail Hasan for many of the party's
problems, which include the current conflict with Bintang.

"Ismail Hasan decided to fire Bintang because he's afraid of
the power holders," he said.

Another political observer, Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, recently said the PPP was acting out its
"inferiority complex" when it decided to have Bintang removed
from the House.

"The PPP is only riding along with Golkar, so it won't have to
face public criticism alone," he said. (swe)