Vaudine England, Jakarta – The fate of one of Indonesia's most powerful political figures, Akbar Tandjung, is being weighed today as a plenary session of the House of Representatives focuses on whether to set up a committee to probe his alleged corruption.

It sounds daunting for Mr Akbar, the House Speaker and head of the Golkar party who was nurtured by former president Suharto's political machine. Mr Akbar is already under investigation by the Attorney-General's office for allegedly embezzling 40 billion rupiah (HK$32 million) in state funds, directing it to support Golkar's election campaign in 1999. He denies it all, saying the money went to help feed and clothe the poor.

The largest party in parliament, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) led by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, has sought to burnish its own anti-corruption credentials by insisting Mr Akbar must be investigated. If he was found guilty by either the Attorney-General's office, or by a special parliamentary committee, his political career could be considered over.

More significantly, the Golkar party he leads could be barred from contesting the next elections in 2004, thereby heralding its demise as a major political force after its more than three decades of often brutal dominance.

But Mr Akbar need not worry, conclude a variety of political observers, as weeks of expensive persuasion pay off.

"Our legislators have so aggressively lobbied other party representatives and leaders ... the results have been satisfactory," the deputy secretary of the House's Golkar party faction, Yahya Zaini, said. "It's a guarantee that no House team will be established." Under a headline, "Big parties determined to save Akbar", the Jakarta Post reported that the PDI-P is backing off the parliamentary investigation idea.

As predicted by analysts when the Attorney-General's probe began, that legal process is being used now to obviate any need for a political probe.

For Mr Akbar, as for any wealthy member of the ancien regime of the Suharto era, legal probes are nothing to fear given the deep graft within the judiciary. Politicians need only fear themselves, namely the parliamentary free-for-all which so successfully toppled president Abdurrahman Wahid, on similar corruption charges.

PDI-P secretary-general Soetjipto said on Friday that his party would thwart any move to set up an inquiry team to investigate Mr Akbar: "The legal process is the appropriate way for resolving Akbar's case. That is why PDI Perjuangan [PDI-P] is of the opinion that a House inquiry team is better off being avoided." Just in case more MPs need time to change their mind in favour of saving Mr Akbar, today's talks may not be final.

"The longer our discussions go on, the higher the price we can charge to agree to anything," said one.