Puteh's head on the line: Source

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is reportedly considering a replacement for Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh as pressure mounts on her to fire him due to graft charges against him.

A reliable source from the President's inner circle revealed on Friday that Megawati was considering two people to take over Puteh's post and that she would make a decision in the near future.

"Some time next week, the President will decide on one of the two candidates. We just have to wait," the source told The Jakarta Post.

The two people are a former minister and a former governor, the source said but declined to identify them.

Nor could the source say whether Puteh would be replaced temporarily or permanently as Aceh governor/civil emergency administrator to face investigation.

Earlier, interim chief security minister Hari Sabarno and local Acehnese figures reportedly proposed several different people as Puteh's replacement.

On Friday, the governor was grilled for a third consecutive day by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a suspect in the alleged markup in the price of a Russian-made Mi-2 helicopter. The case reportedly cost the state Rp 4 billion (US$440,000) in losses.

After undergoing 10 hours of questioning, he again denied any wrongdoing and said the purchase of the helicopter by his administration had been endorsed by the Aceh legislative council.

"I delivered my accountability speech before the Aceh council and they approved it," he said.

However, a local councillor from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Daeng Iskandar, said at least five of the 13 municipal councils in Aceh had initially demanded that the purchase be canceled.

They argued that the huge fund allocated for the helicopter would better be used to improve local people's welfare, Daeng added.

"It was not clear why the governor issued an instruction to go ahead with the purchase and even asked for Rp 750 million in additional funding from regental/municipal budgets," the councillor said.

During Thursday's questioning, Puteh said there was no need to hold a tender for the purchase, citing Presidential Decree No. 18/2000 that allows the bidding process to be skipped for the procurement of goods valued at more than Rp 5 billion in case of emergency, including natural disaster, or a project dealing with sensitive materials such as explosives.

He claimed that the purchase was justified under the decree as Aceh needed an assault helicopter to help crush Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.

"Aceh's whole territory is prone to conflict, making it difficult to monitor remote areas using water or land transportation vehicles," he added.

GAM has been fighting for the independence of Aceh since 1976. With fighting breaking out every day between soldiers and guerrillas, at least 10,000 Acehnese, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.

In a related development, a team of police investigators led by National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung visited KPK members to share data and information on Puteh.

Another graft case against Puteh was discussed involving the alleged markup in the prices of new power generators, causing state losses of Rp 30 billion.

In a joint press conference with KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki, Suyitno said the police would summon Puteh for the second time regarding the power generator scandal.

"The investigation is to find out why he (Puteh) used funds originally allocated for education to buy the generators.

"If the probe shows any legal violations in the use of the funds, we may declare him a suspect," Suyitno added.

He said the police would also summon other Aceh officials, including Aceh Council speaker Muhammad Yus, in connection with the same scam. Suyitno did not elaborate.