President strips Puteh of authorities
President strips Puteh of authorities
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta/Banda Aceh
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is often criticized for
her ineptness in handling corruption cases, has taken a
surprisingly quick decision to remove Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam
Governor Abdullah Puteh, a suspect in a corruption case, from
active duty as regional head and administrator of the civil
emergency.
Megawati, who will very likely be the contender of Gen. (ret)
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the second round of the presidential
election in September, appointed Puteh's deputy, Azwar Abubakar,
as acting governor. Meanwhile she also assigned Minister of Home
Affairs Hari Sabarno, who is also her acting chief security
minister, to administer the civil emergency.
The minister said that the decision was taken to support the
ongoing probe against Puteh and to facilitate the daily running
of the government in Aceh. A presidential decree will be issued
soon to implement the decision.
"The President instructed the deputy governor to handle the
daily affairs of the province and interim coordinating minister
for political and security affairs to oversee the civil
emergency," Hari said on Monday.
Megawati took the decision after a meeting with Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki on
Monday at the State Palace. The commission asked the President to
suspend the governor last week, to accelerate the investigation
into the alleged markup of the purchase of a Russian-made
helicopter, which caused Rp 4 billion (US$440,000) in losses to
the state, in which Puteh is declared a suspect.
Puteh has undergone four days of questioning by the commission
which declared him a suspect in the case last week.
The KPK earlier asked Megawati to suspend Puteh. Citing a law,
the President said, however, she only had the right to hire and
fire a governor with the recommendation of the provincial
legislative council.
"This is a solution for us, so as to continue with the
questioning without hampering the daily activities in the
province," Taufiqurrahman said after the meeting.
Puteh himself remained calm upon hearing the news. "I think we
all have just to wait for the President's decision and we will
accept it no matter what she decides," Puteh told reporters
later.
Meanwhile Aceh Provincial Legislative Council speaker Muhammad
Yus said, "There has not been any decision from us as yet because
his legal status is still uncertain."
Meanwhile, Puteh's lawyers filed a lawsuit with the Central
Jakarta District Court accusing the KPK of conducting an
illegitimate investigation. Through his written statement Puteh
said both his visits to the KPK on June 4 and June 10 were to
testify, not to be interrogated as a suspect.
Judge Cicut Sutiarso said the trial was adjourned until
Tuesday to hear the comments of the KPK.