Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Camelia Pasandaran – The House of Representatives has asked the General Elections Commission to suspend by 24 hours the processing of a request by the National Awakening Party for the recall of two of its lawmakers, to allow them to file an objection.
Last week, the party, known as the PKB, sent a letter to the House leadership demanding that two of its lawmakers – Lily Wahid and Effendy Choirie – be withdrawn from the legislature. House Speaker Marzuki Alie said he had forwarded the letter to the General Elections Commission (KPU) for it to study and make a recommendation.
"If Lily and Effendy don't file any legal objection to the decision in the next 24 hours, we will give the permit to the KPU to process the PKB letter," said House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The decision was made after House leaders met to discuss Lily's complaint over Marzuki's decision to simply forward the PKB letter to the KPU without consulting other House leaders.
Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker from the Golkar Party, had said the majority of the five House leaders did not agree with the PKB's decision to recall Lily and Effendy.
The two have been reprimanded by their party several times for indiscipline, with the latest episode being their support for a proposed special House inquiry into corruption in the tax office, running against the party's stance of opposing the inquiry. The proposal was defeated by two votes.
The House's move comes four days after the Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review filed for by Lily. She was seeking to challenge the law on political parties and the authority of House factions to recall their members. The recall, if approved, would mean the pair would lose their legislative positions.
Marwan Ja'far, the chairman of the PKB House faction, acknowledged that the party had expelled the two lawmakers.
Lily said she would immediately file a legal objection against the decision. "We will also come to the KPU to explain the facts of the matter," she said.
Meanwhile, Effendy criticized PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar for bowing to the ruling Democratic Party. "It's now a joke among party members that President SBY is the real advisory board chairman of the PKB," he said.
"I am sure of one thing, that what has happened to Lily and I owes itself to the relationship between Muhaimin and the Democratic Party. I'm sure no PKB member wants us to be treated like this, but the Democratic Party does have such a wish."
The PKB's secretary general, Imam Nahrowi, said the recall of the lawmakers was an important step in keeping party members in line. "We need discipline," Imam said. "They have a [bad] record. In any organization, members like that should be sanctioned."