House factions turn down President's proposal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A last-ditch move to reach a compromise between
\nsquabbling members of the political elite has failed as major
\nfactions at the House of Representatives turned down on Saturday
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid's proposal to transfer presidential
\npower to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
A meeting of top House legislators hosted by Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle faction chairman Arifin Panigoro at
\nhis residence on Saturday resulted in a unanimous decision to
\nproceed with the impeachment process of the President.<\/p>\n
In their plenary session next Wednesday, the House members are
\nexpected to call for a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
\nspecial session to impeach the President on the grounds that he
\nfailed to heed two motions of censure against him.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party (PKB) faction was not
\nrepresented in Saturday's informal gathering, the second in as
\nmany days hosted by oil baron Arifin.<\/p>\n
Arifin told a post-meeting joint media conference that his
\nfaction rejected the President's offer, saying the way he put
\npressure on Megawati to accept the proposal was in violation of
\nthe Constitution.<\/p>\n
"The President has a problem not with the Vice President but
\nwith the House," Arifin said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, whose relations with Megawati have been visibly
\ndeteriorating, said on Saturday that acceptance of his proposal
\nwould prevent both an MPR special session to impeach him and the
\nimposition of a state of emergency, which would enable him to
\ndissolve the House.<\/p>\n
Golkar faction chairman Syamsul Muarif said his faction
\nsupported the MPR special session as a forum to seek a peaceful
\nsolution to the current political crisis.<\/p>\n
"Settlement of the political crisis should take place in a
\n(MPR) special session. The President is a strange personality
\nbecause he is prone to making contradictory statements from one
\nday to another," he said.<\/p>\n
Syamsul said Golkar executive board also held a meeting
\nearlier in the day in which the party opposed the power-
\ndelegation proposal and the possible imposition of a state of
\nemergency through a presidential decree.<\/p>\n
"Our party will call for a hastened MPR special session to
\nimpeach the President if the decree is issued. There is no
\nadequate reason for him to enact such a decree," he said.<\/p>\n
United Development Party faction chairman Ali Marwan Hanan
\nsaid that his faction would not drop its call for an Assembly
\nspecial session to hear the President's accountability speech.<\/p>\n
"The political crisis will continue as long as Gus Dur holds
\npower," he said.<\/p>\n
Hatta Radjasa of the Reform faction said the President's
\nerratic leadership and his failure to positively respond to the
\nHouse's two memoranda of censure were adequate grounds to show
\nhim the door.<\/p>\n
"To our faction, it is better for Gus Dur to step down
\nvoluntarily rather than be impeached now that an Assembly special
\nsession looks inevitable," Hatta said, referring to the President
\nby nickname.<\/p>\n
Moderate<\/p>\n
Later in the day after a meeting attended by the President,
\nthe PKB called on Megawati to reconsider the power-transfer
\nproposal which it considered the most moderate way to end the
\npolitical crisis.<\/p>\n
Abdul Kholiq Achmad said the proposal was aimed at avoiding
\ntwo possible extreme consequences of the President's impeachment,
\nnamely widespread chaos and dissolution of the House.<\/p>\n
"PKB is of the opinion that if a special session takes place,
\nthe House will have mistakenly adopted the parliamentary system
\nand it would be valid if the President dissolves the House for
\nthe constitutional violation," he said.<\/p>\n
He said the PKB had opposed the power-transfer proposal on
\nprincipal, but could understand it given the worsening political
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
Separately, Lt. Gen. Budhi Harsono, chairman of the Indonesian
\nMilitary\/National Police faction, reiterated that the faction
\nwould stay out of the conflict between the President and civilian
\npoliticians and would fight only for national interests.<\/p>\n
"The military will consistently oppose both the declaration of
\na state of emergency and House dissolution. Our faction will
\nunveil our political stance in the last minutes prior to the May
\n30 plenary session," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said he had made
\nnecessary preparations for Wednesday's plenary session, including
\ncoordinating with the city security authorities.<\/p>\n
"A draft of an official request to the MPR for a special
\nsession has been drawn up in anticipation of the House's
\ndisapproval of the President's leadership," he said after a House
\nleadership meeting.<\/p>\n
He said further that the plenary meeting could be moved
\nforward if the President abruptly declared a state of emergency.
\n(rms)<\/p>",
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