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Indonesian President Cut Short Meeting With MPs Over Scandal
JAKARTA, Jan 22 (News Agencies) - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday said he cut short a meeting with a parliamentary commission to answer questions about two financial scandals in which he is allegedly implicated.
Wahid left the closed meeting with the special commission of the People's Representative Council (DPR), the lower house, at the Jakarta Convention Center only 45 minutes after his arrival.
"I asked whether this special commission was a legal or political forum ... I sought a clarification but finally I was not given any explanation as to whether the forum was a legal or political one and therefore I decided that there was no use in continuing," Wahid told a press conference afterwards.
Wahid said he had agreed to come to the center, a neutral ground, because he thought the special commission recognized it was not a legal forum.
"I am not prepared [to address the meeting] if this is a legal forum. I will not take part because this runs against the constitution," Wahid said.
The commission wants to question Wahid over "Bulogate" - the theft of $3.9 million from the state logistics agency, Bulog, reportedly pulled off by Wahid's masseur, Alip Agung Suwondo.
The other scandal, "Bruneigate", centers around a $2 million donation from the Sultan of Brunei that the president claimed was a personal gift to be used for humanitarian assistance in the separatist Aceh province.
Wahid said justice should be handled by the courts and not by a parliamentary body.
The president had earlier refused a summons to appear before the commission at the parliament building saying that he was not accountable to a lower house body. MPs also rejected Wahid's invitation to meet him at the presidential palace.
Wahid also said the special commission was illegal as it was not set up according to the proper procedures.
"Although I came [to the meeting] I still deem the special commission is illegal," Wahid said Monday.
Wahid has also claimed he has already answered questions regarding the two scandals and that any additional queries should be made in a political forum.
Special Committee chairman Bachtiar Chamsyah told journalists after the meeting that Wahid had "refused to be sworn in" before giving his clarification and that the president had "abruptly left" after he questioned the committee's "legality."
The president also claimed that the witnesses who have appeared before the commission have given false information, Chamsyah said.
Wahid, the first-democratically elected president, could face impeachment proceedings if the probe finds him guilty of playing a part in the two scandals.
"I can't say whether we are going to push for an impeachment or not, but this committee was formed by the plenary session of the DPR to investigate and find out the real truth behind those two cases," commission member Alvin Lie, a staunch critic of Wahid, said.
The president's entourage included cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak, State Secretary Johan Effendi, his legal expert Harun al-Rasyid and two lawyers.
It was unclear how many of the commission 50 members were present at the meeting.
Outside the center, some 100 students held a street rally to protest the meeting with one demonstrator expressing his concern that "Gus Dur [Wahid's nickname] would lie to the commission."
Hundreds of anti-Wahid protestors have staged mass demonstrations outside the parliament building in the past few days, demanding that Wahid answer the commission or resign.
The commission is scheduled to complete its investigation on January 25th and reveal its findings to the public four days later.
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