Amien, President resolve differences<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker
\nAmien Rais claimed that he and President Abdurrahman Wahid buried
\nthe hatchet while promising to remain critical of each other.<\/p>\n
\"Even before it was suggested to me to have a dialog with the
\nPresident, I already had a long conversation with him. However,
\nit was done without the knowledge of the media,\" Amien Rais said
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
Amien said that he telephoned Gus Dur to resolve their
\ndifferences.<\/p>\n
\"We agreed to correct and criticize each other as an exercise
\nof democracy,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, during his recent overseas trip, rebuffed critics
\nof Amien who said Amien would not hesitate to 'pinch' the
\nPresident's ear should the government veer off track in its
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Amien suggested an Assembly special session could
\nbe held to seek Abdurrahman's accountability following his
\nintention to scrap the 34-year-old ban on communist teaching
\nendorsed by the Assembly when it was a provisional body in 1966.<\/p>\n
Amien, a prominent reform leader, later rectified his
\nstatement, saying that a special session would not be scheduled
\nto take place when 700 MPR members convene in August.<\/p>\n
\"It is not necessary to hold a special session, ...the
\nupcoming general assembly in August is a more respected forum,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The widely publicized polemic between Abdurrahman and Amien
\nhas drawn concern.<\/p>\n
House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker and Golkar Party
\nchairman Akbar Tandjung suggested that the two meet for talks to
\nput the issue to rest.<\/p>\n
Amien played down a plan by the National Awakening Party (PKB)
\nto throw a vote of nonconfidence against him, calling it \"a
\nmission impossible\".<\/p>\n
\"I thought PKB was joking,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier PKB, the party founded by Abdurrahman, suggested the
\nreplacement of Amien because his statements on the Assembly
\nspecial session.<\/p>\n
The party also linked Amien with the radical Muslim movement
\nLaskar Jihad that reportedly intended to wage a holy war in
\nMaluku.<\/p>\n
Akbar reiterated on Thursday that Golkar would not support the
\nidea of holding a special MPR session.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar will never take the initiative of asking for a special
\nsession because there are no adequate reasons for doing so. Such
\na session is only possible if the President violates the
\nConstitution, MPR decrees or the state policy guidelines,\" Akbar
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Akbar was in the Central Java town of Surakarta to attend a
\nceremony that marked the opening of the Golkar branch office in
\nSurakarta.<\/p>\n
The office had been destroyed by a fire during riots after the
\npresidential elections in October.<\/p>\n
In Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, chairman of the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP) Hamzah Haz also joined the chorus of
\nopposition against a special MPR session.<\/p>\n
\"I think there is no urgency to hold such a session. There is
\nalready a general session, an open forum to hear the President's
\naccountability speech,\" Hamzah Haz said at the Iskandar Muda
\nairport upon leaving Aceh on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Like Akbar, Hamzah said President Abdurrahman did nothing
\nwrong in upholding the Constitution.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman replaced Hamzah as the coordinating minister for
\npeople's welfare only after one month of service last year.
\n(44\/50\/edt\/dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/amien-president-resolve-differences-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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