PPP initiates plan to summon Habibie
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) faction initiated on Friday a motion to have President B.J. Habibie explain to the House of Representatives the controversial tapped conversation he had with Attorney General A.M. Ghalib.
The faction prepared a summons, to be dated March 1, according to PPP legislator Lukman Hakim Saifudin. According to the House internal rules, at least 10 legislators must submit a written request before the House leaders may summon the President.
The PPP legislators had been very critical of Habibie's tapped conversation, which they believed proved Habibie was not serious in pursuing the case against former president Soeharto. One of the PPP leaders even suggested that Habibie and Ghalib were making a farce of the investigation.
Over the past few days, legislators of the dominant Golkar and the Armed Forces (ABRI) factions have agreed to question the President.
Meanwhile, constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra said only Habibie's formal clarification on the matter before the House would end the controversy.
"That is the departure point. The individual concerned (should) state whether the substance of the (tapped) conversation was true or false," Yusril told Antara on Thursday.
Yusril, also chairman of poll contender the Crescent Star Party, said questioning the President could pave the way for an impeachment by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
"There are procedures to follow (before an impeachment)... but it could happen," Yusril said.
Police, rather than investigating the alleged phone bugging, had continued their probe into the alleged dissemination of false information by the print and broadcasting media.
On Friday, police questioned three news directors from a private television station, a radio station and a local newspapers over the recording.
The three, who were summoned as witnesses to the National Police headquarters in Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta, were Riza Primadi of SCTV, Bambang G. Parindra of Pro2 FM and Jasofi Bahtiar of Merdeka daily.
On Tuesday, National Police detectives also attempted to obtain information from news directors of private television stations ANteve and RCTI and the radio broadcasting station Sonora.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Press Freedom said in a statement: "The Committee urges the law and security apparatus to focus their probe on discovering those involved in the tapping of the President's phone call, rather than diverting attention by summoning journalists to hear their stories. The summons are threatening the freedom of the press."
The statement was signed by senior journalists and media executives.
Separately, PPP legislator Daniel Tanjung, said his faction was insistent they would pursue Habibie since many of his statements have been controversial and were confusing the public.
Daniel cited Habibie's recent account of the May 22 evening incident, in which the President claimed to have been surrounded by troopers under the command of former chief of the Army Strategic Reserve Command Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, a version of events that both Prabowo and Wiranto disputed.
Habibie has confirmed that the voice in the tapped conversation is his, but Ghalib's denial continues to provoke controversy.
During the past 32 years, the House had used its right to question the President at least five times.
On July 5, 1980, for instance, a summons signed by 19 legislators -- 17 of whom were PPP legislators -- was sent to then president Soeharto.
Then vice president Adam Malik met the House on Soeharto's behalf.
The questioning was the result of a controversial statement made by then president Soeharto in March 1980 at Pekanbaru, Riau. The substance of his statement was that rather than allowing the 1945 Constitution to be changed, he would kidnap a number of MPR members who sought to change the document. (emf/aan)