Soeharto's world on Bambang's dismissal awaited

Soeharto's world on Bambang's dismissal awaited

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Executive Board of Golkar has not
yet received words from President Soeharto about its proposal to
dismiss Bambang Warih Koesoemo from the House of Representatives
(DPR), deputy chairman Abdul Gafur said yesterday.

"We're still waiting...We don't know yet," Gafur told
reporters. "We've submitted the proposal to the House leaders (to
be forwarded to President Soeharto)."

Gafur's remarks, made during a post-Idul Fitri reception at
the Supreme Advisory Council of which he is a member, refuted the
suggestions that the President has endorsed the plan to dismiss
Bambang on grounds of failing to observe the group's official
line.

Senior Golkar politician Alamsjah Prawiranegara earlier said
that Soeharto approved the dismissal during a meeting with Golkar
leaders at his Jl. Cendana residence. Soeharto is also the chief
patron of the ruling political group.

Gafur said Golkar had not been officially informed of
Soeharto's decision on the issue.

"We can only wait for the results," he said, adding however
that as far as the executive board was concerned, the decision
was final and is now simply awaiting for the official seal of
approval from the head of state.

Golkar executive board last month presented a letter proposing
the dismissal of Bambang to House Speaker Wahono. The latter sat
on the issue for two weeks before passing it on to Soeharto "with
additional notes". The content of these notes has since been the
subject of speculation.

Meanwhile, Bambang faithfully went about his legislature
duties yesterday, attending a plenary meeting with Minister of
Finance Mar'ie Muhammad and another with the House's Commission
on State Budget.

"I'll make the most of the rest of my time here, I'll be here
until the very last minute," he told The Jakarta Post. "After all
my duties here are completed, only then can I think of myself and
of what I'm going to do next."

Bambang said he will still proceed with his plan to sue Golkar
leaders, both the central executive board and the East Java
branch -- which initiated his dismissal, for tarnishing his name.

"I'll think about this plan more thoroughly later...it would
be selfish of me to think about it now, as I still have much to
do here," he said.

Bambang said he's still actively involved in various
discussion in his commission, including the one on the state
budget for the 1995-1996 fiscal year.

Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a legislator of the United Development
Party (PPP) who is also being "recalled" by his faction, failed
to show up at the DPR plenary meeting yesterday.

"Plenary meetings are not interesting," Bintang said defiantly
from his home. "Everything that's said in those meetings have
been pre-arranged and all that everybody does is nodding their
agreement."

"Whenever a person tries to argue or protest, he's treated as
if he's a weirdo, and I don't want to be looked at as a weirdo,"
he told the Post.

He also lashed out at fellow legislators who sign meetings'
attendance record only to disappear for the rest of the working
day. "That's deceitful...I'd rather be honest and don't show up
at all," he said.

Bintang, however, said he is still faithfully meeting his
other duties, including representing his party faction in a small
team entrusted with task to examine the performance of the state
budget commission. "This team is studying many things, especially
the question of how effective is our monitoring of the
government's implementation of state budget," he said.

Bintang said this team is scheduled to meet more intensively
in June and July. "By that time, I don't know whether I'll still
be there," he laughed.

Shortly after Golkar decided to dismiss Bambang Warih for his
alleged habit of deviating from the organization's official line,
PPP announced it was also dismissing Bintang.

PPP leaders accused Bintang of not only deviating from party's
official line, but also of conducting an unpardonable gaffe of
questioning the legality of the state ideology Pancasila.

PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum recently said that the
party's interests were "harmed" after it recruited Bintang in
1992. "We lost more than we gained recruiting him," Ismail said.
(29/swe)