Hot debate over Soeharto's offer to step aside<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto's reported remarks that he
\nwas prepared to resign if people no longer trusted him provoked a
\nwide debate here yesterday, in spite of a correction by Foreign
\nMinister Ali Alatas from Cairo.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),
\nHarmoko, said he hoped to \"consult\" with Soeharto as soon as the
\nlatter returned from Cairo to discuss the statement.<\/p>\n
Harmoko refused to elaborate.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, during a meeting with Indonesian community in Cairo
\non Wednesday night, said he did not see it as \"a problem\" if
\npeople no longer trusted him.<\/p>\n
His remarks were interpreted by some media here, and picked up
\nby news agencies later, as if he was prepared to stand down.<\/p>\n
But Alatas, who was accompanying Soeharto in Cairo, said
\nyesterday: \"It seems there is some confusion about what has been
\nsaid, and what the foreign press has interpreted.\"<\/p>\n
He said that Soeharto had in the past made clear he would not
\noppose a call for him to step down if it was made through the
\nconstitution and the country's assembly.<\/p>\n
\"He (Soeharto) has said on several occasions before that if
\nthe people do not have any trust in me anymore then of course
\nthat is their right, and he would not oppose it as long as it is
\ndone constitutionally. I repeat as long as it is conveyed and
\ndecided upon...through our elected representatives in the
\nconsultative assembly.\"<\/p>\n
With the rioting escalating in Jakarta, a number of
\npoliticians picked up on the theme of resign, and demanded that
\nthe assembly speeded up the process.<\/p>\n
Kosgoro, a mass organization affiliated to Golkar, called on
\nthe MPR to hold an extraordinary session to process the motion.<\/p>\n
Kosgoro welcomed Soeharto's purported remarks, calling him \"a
\ngentleman, a patriot, a true fighter who always puts the interest
\nof the people and the country ahead of his own.\"<\/p>\n
In an open letter, Kosgoro appealed to Soeharto and Vice
\nPresident B.J. Habibie to \"return\" the mandate given to them by
\nthe MPR in March through the extraordinary session, Antara
\nreported.<\/p>\n
\"This is in line with the President's remarks in Cairo that he
\nwas ready to stand down,\" said the statement, signed by Kosgoro
\nchairman Bambang Soeharto and secretary general Effendi Jusuf.<\/p>\n
Other Kosgoro leaders were present at the meeting in which the
\nstatement was read before the media. They include former cabinet
\nministers Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Hayono Isman, and Siswono
\nYudohusodo.<\/p>\n
The statement said Kosgoro members who sit in the MPR will
\nsoon write to the Assembly leadership to hold the extraordinary
\nsession.<\/p>\n
It also called for a revamp of the cabinet and make it \"free
\nfrom elements of corruption, collusion and nepotism.\"<\/p>\n
\"This is our way of supporting Pak Harto. It's not to bring
\nabout his downfall, but to save him,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, said Soeharto's
\nstatement was not comforting enough and would not likely to calm
\npublic anxiety.<\/p>\n
Amien said reading through the remarks, he did not think
\nSoeharto would step down until after 2003, the year when he
\nfinishes his current seventh five-year term.<\/p>\n
\"Soeharto has stated on many occasions that he was ready to
\nstep down. But of course he never did,\" he said in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Amien said the government has lost all legitimacy, whether
\nmorally or politically.<\/p>\n
A group of public figures, led by human rights lawyer Adnan
\nBuyung Nasution interrupted a meeting of the leaders of the House
\nof Representatives, led by speaker Harmoko, to call on the MPR to
\nset up an interim government to defuse the worsening political
\nand economic crisis and the spreading riots in the capital rather
\nthan wait for an extraordinary MPR session.<\/p>\n
\"We must take a short-cut. Now. We are racing against time.
\nThe burning of buildings and shops and the looting in the capital
\nis spreading.<\/p>\n
\"We ask you to go and meet Soeharto in Cairo and ask him to
\nimmediately step down. You shouldn't waste time. You should go
\nnow,\" Buyung said.<\/p>\n
Poet Rendra, who joined the group, read a poem dedicated to
\nfour students of Trisakti University who were shot dead by
\nsecurity forces on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Budi Hardjono, the chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nFaction in the House, said an extraordinary session of the MPR
\ncould be one solution to the current political impasse.<\/p>\n
\"When Pak Harto returns, we will ask for his confirmation
\nabout the story. I need to check it first,\" Budi told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"If he had decided to step down, then this has to be done and
\nprocessed in accordance to the constitution. An extraordinary
\nsession of the MPR is the solution,\" he said. (team)<\/p>",
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