Jakarta – Only 49 of 500 Indonesian legislators showed up on time for a plenary meeting to debate the setting up of an inquiry team to investigate Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung, clearly demon-strating their reluctance to investigate his alleged role in a financial scandal involving 40 billion rupiah (S$7.1 million).

The poor showing on Monday prompted House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), to delay the plenary meeting for 30 minutes. When the meeting re-opened, only 254 legislators were around, barely enough for a quorum of 250, or half of the total 500 legislators.

Speaking on behalf of the 50 legislators who filed the petition to set up an inquiry team, Ms Tari Siwi Utami of the National Awakening Party said that an inquiry committee was needed to unravel the alleged misappropriation of 40 billion rupiah from the State Logistics Agency's (Bulog) funds.

Former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan, the prime suspect in the 54.6-billion-rupiah scandal, alleged that the Golkar chairman received 40 billion rupiah from the funds. The Golkar leader admitted "receiving" the funds, but insisted that the funds were directly channeled to a little-known foundation.

Meanwhile, a noted Muslim scholar suggested that Mr Akbar delay his plan to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. Mr Masdar Farid Mas'udi, chairman of the Nadhlatul Ulama's Association for Muslim Boarding Schools and Community Development, said the Golkar chairman's insistence on going would only create a bad precedent for the law enforcement drive in the country.

Mr Akbar had wanted to go on the pilgrimage, which he said had been planned long before he was implicated in the case. He had been named a suspect two weeks ago in the high-profile scam. His going to Mecca is seen as using the religious card to manipulate investigations.

Mr Masdar said Mr Akbar's move would only encourage people to look for loopholes in the legal system in the future.