Wahono may not resist Golkar pressure
Wahono may not resist Golkar pressure
JAKARTA (JP): A scholar predicted yesterday that the speaker of the House of Representatives, Wahono, would not dare reject the ruling Golkar party's decision to withdraw its outspoken member from the legislative body.
Dr. Soehardjo, from the Semarang-based Diponegoro University, said that Wahono would not risk hurting his relationship with Golkar by rejecting its highly controversial proposal to fire Bambang Warih Koesoemo.
Besides which, Wahono also represents the dominant Golkar, who decided collectively on whether or not the House will endorse Bambang's dismissal.
"The chance is slim that Wahono will reject Golkar's proposal," said the lecturer at the school of law in the university.
Golkar has submitted its proposal to withdraw Bambang from the House to Wahono. Wahono was supposed to decide on the legislator's fate on Tuesday but he asked for another week on the grounds that he needed more time to collect input on Bambang's performance.
Golkar decided to withdraw Bambang from the House because he "lacks manners when handling cabinet ministers" and often deviates from the organization's policy line.
But many observers believe that Bambang is being fired because of his attempt to uncover the huge bad debt of the Kanindotex Group, belonging to Robby Tjahyadi, one of Golkar's donors.
"Wahono is well aware that if he chooses to reject Golkar's proposal (to sack Bambang), he will put his own relationship with Golkar on the line," Soehardjo said.
Wahono, who is a former chairman of Golkar, also knows very well that Golkar leaders have decided unanimously to withdraw Bambang.
Soehardjo said Bambang's dismissal, which has drawn storms of criticism, will affect Golkar's performance in the 1997 general election.
But it is difficult to predict to what extent the affect will be because Golkar chairman Harmoko is aggressively campaigning across the country to improve the political organization's image, he said.
Golkar's lost 17 seats in the House, from 299 to 282, under Wahono leadership in the 1992 general election, reducing its majority from 73 percent to 68 percent. Harmoko has been trying hard to enlarge Golkar's majority. (har/pan)