House yet to decide on Gibran impeachment petition
Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (centre) attends the commemoration of Pancasila Day on June 1 at the Pancasila Building, a historic hall within the Foreign Ministry's compound in Jakarta. Pancasila Day celebrates Indonesia's national ideology based on five principles: Belief in one God, just and civilized humanity, national unity, democracy guided by the wisdom of people's representatives and social justice for all Indonesians. - Photo: AFP
JAKARTA: The House of Representatives is still weighing whether to bring a petition to initiate impeachment proceedings against Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka filed by a group of retired Indonesian Military (TNI) generals to a plenary session that would mark the start of the legal process.
The decision whether to bring the petition to a plenary session depends on the petition's substance, which will first be reviewed to see whether the aspiration is 'reasonable, rational and has political and legal legitimacy,' according to House Legislation Body (Baleg) deputy chair Ahmad Iman Sukri.
'We leave it to the House leadership. The debate is more political in nature, and political products always have political solutions,' the National Awakening Party (PKB) politician said on Friday (June 20), as quoted by Kompas.com, adding that he had not read the retired general's letter.
Ahmad made the statement as the House is expected to hold a plenary session on Tuesday to mark the start of its next sitting period.
The legislature is currently in recess that will end on Monday.
Earlier this month, a group known as the Retired TNI Soldiers Forum sent a letter to call on the leadership of the House and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to begin the legal process of removing Gibran from office.
The group argued that Gibran's appointment was tainted by an ethics scandal over a Constitutional Court ruling that lowered the age threshold for candidates.
The controversial decision, issued during the administration of Gibran's father, former president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, was authored by then-chief justice Anwar Usman, Jokowi's brother-in-law.
The justice was later dismissed from the court's top seat for a serious violation of judicial ethics.
The group also questioned Gibran's capability to serve as vice president, arguing that the former mayor of Surakarta in Central Java has become a burden to President Prabowo Subianto in carrying out the responsibilities of the state, rather than showing his capacity to assist the President.
The forum's secretary Bimo Satrio confirmed the authenticity of the letter and said that former vice president and military general Try Sutrisno had 'given his blessing' for the group to proceed with the petition in late May, despite not having his name appear among the signatories.
Several days after the legislative bodies received the retired generals' letter, House Deputy Speaker and Prabowo's Gerindra Party executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad met with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri in the latter's private residence.
Speaking after the meeting, Dasco, who is widely regarded as one of Prabowo's right-hand men, said that he had been sent by the President to deliver a confidential message to Megawati, and he had received a response to relay back to Prabowo in return.
With the party's congress that was expected to be the occasion when it would define its political position toward Prabowo's administration, the PDI-P remains as the only de facto opposition party in the legislature, controlling 110 of 580 House seats. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
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