House wraps up debate on bills until Jan. 25<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives ended its
\ndeliberations of the political bills on Friday for the beginning
\nof the week-long Idul Fitri holiday, practically closing the door
\non any new attempts to change the outcome of the bills.<\/p>\n
The House will resume talks on Monday, Jan. 25, with an open
\nsession where its 87-member Special Committee is scheduled to
\nhear reports from the three working groups tasked with discussing
\nthe details of the bills.<\/p>\n
House factions will then be given two days to prepare their
\nfinal statements for the Jan. 28 plenary session to pass the
\nbills onto President B.J. Habibie to sign into laws.<\/p>\n
However, as of Friday, House factions were still stalemated
\nover issues such as the political role of civil servants, as
\nfactions refused to budge from their respective stances. The
\ngovernment, however, has \"guaranteed\" there will be a solution to
\nthe deadlock by Jan. 28.<\/p>\n
Other questions remaining unsolved are the number of
\nnonelected House seats to be allocated for the Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) and the composition of the 700-member People's
\nConsultative Assembly, which presently consists of House members,
\ndelegates from provinces and delegates from social groups.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislator Abu Hasan Sazili, who chairs the Special
\nCommittee, said it was still possible to break the impasse before
\nJan. 25.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the holiday, informal talks between faction leaders
\ncan still continue,\" Sazili said. \"We are sure we can find a
\nsolution.\"<\/p>\n
Under the country's current political system, any solutions to
\nthe present stalemate must come from the top leaders of the House
\nfactions -- ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto, Golkar chairman Akbar
\nTandjung, Indonesian Democratic Party chairman Budi Hardjono,
\nUnited Development Party chairman Hamzah Haz and Minister of Home
\nAffairs Syarwan Hamid, who represents the government.<\/p>\n
Golkar legislator Aminullah Ibrahim, who is chairing the
\ndeliberations of the electoral bill, told journalists on Friday
\nthat \"if those above insist, then we as troopers down here will
\njust plow ahead (with our stances).\"<\/p>\n
Asked to comment about the stalemate, political observer Rusdi
\nMuchtar of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said, \"Faction
\nleaders and the government must show flexibility.\"<\/p>\n
Rusdi warned of consequences as dire as national
\ndisintegration if the House failed to pass bills which were
\ndemocratic.<\/p>\n
According to Rusdi, the ABRI faction must take the initiative
\nif it wants to show that its presence in the House means anything
\nat all. (aan)<\/p>",
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