Puteh 'can stay in Aceh top posts'

Puteh 'can stay in Aceh top posts'

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

Puteh will still be free to resume his duties as Aceh governor
and the province's civil emergency administrator, after the
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has finished questioning
him in a graft scam, a minister has said.

Chief security minister Hari Sabarno made the statement on
Thursday, only a day after President Megawati Soekarnoputri
issued an instruction to strip Puteh of his powers.

"It's no problem (as long it did not hamper the
investigation)," Hari replied when asked if Puteh would be
allowed to retain his governorship.

The presidential instruction, which is widely perceived as
imprecise, required Puteh to comply with the KPK's summons for
questioning over an alleged markup in the purchase of a Russian
helicopter.

Furthermore, the Aceh administration would be run by the
deputy governor, while Puteh's position as the civil emergency
administrator would be taken over by the coordinating minister
for political and security affairs, the instruction said.

Despite stripping him of his powers in order to face the graft
inquiry, the instruction did not declare that Puteh be
"suspended" or "dismissed" from his top two responsibilities.

Hari's remark drew immediate criticism from constitutional law
expert Satya Arinanto, who said the instruction failed to provide
legal certainty with regard to Puteh's position.

"It's strange, as the instruction will leave the door open for
the governor to rule again once the KPK is no longer questioning
him," he said.

"The substance of the presidential instruction leaves room for
doubt with regard to the government's commitment to eradicating
corruption," Satya added.

He said the President should not have hesitated over accepting
a KPK order to suspend the Aceh governor in order to facilitate
his interrogation, arguing that the law on the commission
stipulated that other legislation was subservient to it.

"Consequently, there's no way a suspect can sue the President.
Even if the suspect threatened to sue her, she could ignore it
because corruption could be considered an extraordinary crime,"
Satya said.

Puteh's lawyers had threatened Megawati with a lawsuit had she
issued a decree to suspend or dismiss their client, saying it
would have been against the law if the decision had been made in
the absence of a recommendation from the Aceh legislative
council.

Eggi Sudjana, one of Puteh's lawyers, said his client had
dropped plans to sue the President because her instruction did
not dismiss him.

However, Puteh would go back to Aceh to resume his former
state duties soon after being questioned by the KPK.

Separately, home affairs ministry secretary-general Sitti
Nurbaya said her office was currently drafting a ministerial
decree to implement the presidential instruction.

"We shall issue it soon in a bid to prevent any
misinterpretation of the instruction," she said after a meeting
with KPK members on Thursday.

After a meeting with Editors' Club members on Wednesday
evening in Jakarta, Puteh hailed the presidential instruction,
saying it was a "clever regulation" as it merely delegated his
duties to other figures but kept him in his current position.

The KPK is scheduled to grill Puteh again on Aug. 2 after
questioning a number of witnesses in relation to a corruption
scandal that has reportedly cost the state some Rp 4 billion.