An apparent power struggle has broken out within the Democratic Party for control of the House of Representatives legal affairs commission, with a challenger claiming the support of the president but the incumbent shrugging off the contest.
Gede Pasek Suardika, the current House Commission III chairman, is being challenged by Ruhut Sitompul.
Ruhut said he secured support from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also party chairman, to be appointed chair, adding that Jero Wacik, a minister and party adviser, was present when the president backed him a month ago.
But Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, the Democrat chairwoman at the House, said she had not been instructed by the party to write to the House secretary general regarding Ruhut’s appointment.
“The law states that the party’s secretary general must write to the party’s House chairperson to submit names for any changes in Commission seats,” Nurhayati said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Saan Mustopha, the Democrat secretary at the House, also denied that the party’s executive board had sent any letter related to a new appointment to the commission as part of a rotation of legislators.
“Rotations happen all the time in these roles in order to maximize performance,” he added.
House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, who oversees Commission III among other House commissions, said he was aware of no new correspondence on the matter, and was relying on an earlier letter from the Democrats appointing Pasek as the Commission III chairman.
“The Democratic Party assigned Gede Pasek Suardika as the chairman of Commission III. The letter was signed by the House Democrat chairwoman, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf,” Priyo said on Tuesday.
Pasek said he was still the chairman and vowed to continue to work despite Ruhut’s claims. “Who dismissed me? There hasn’t been any letter related to the replacement. I will continue my work,” he said.
He added that if he really were to be replaced, the decision should not be for personal reasons.
“I wouldn’t mind. But if I was replaced because of a personal matter, I don’t think that’s healthy for democracy,” Pasek said.
Pasek was previously expected to be replaced because of his close ties to Anas Urbaningrum, the disgraced former chairman of the Democratic Party who was felled earlier this year in a corruption scandal. Yudhoyono, who declared himself chairman after Anas was named a suspect, promptly went on to replace Anas loyalists in key posts with officials of his own choosing. Ruhut was among the most vocal of Anas’s critics within the party.
Desmond Mahesa, a Commission III legislator from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), said his party would support Ruhut as chairman if the president had really appointed him. But “if it’s not true, we will criticize him,” he said.
Syarifuddin Sudding, the House chairman of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), said he would also support Ruhut as the Commission III chairman.
“We will give him our full support. Who doesn’t know him? I have no doubts [about Ruhut] in terms of capability and integrity,” he said.
Ruhut denied any tension in the Democratic Party over the issue, saying that Yudhoyono based all strategic appointments on a system of reward and punishment.
He added that appointment as the Commission III chairman was deserved.
“I am grateful to SBY because he is rewarding me,” Ruhut said.
Commission III oversees legal and criminal affairs, legislation, autonomy and human rights, and is considered one of the most important and influential bodies in the House.
by: Markus Junianto Sihaloho
source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/power-spat-for-house-posting-unresolved/
