Legislators continue power struggle<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Though the legitimacy of their meetings remains questionable,
\nmembers of the Nationhood Coalition and the National Awakening
\nParty (PKB) continued on Thursday to elect their own members
\nas the chairs or deputy chairs of the House commissions.<\/p>\n
At least 10 House of Representatives' commissions held
\nleadership elections on Thursday, with Golkar winning five
\ncommission chairs, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI-P) four and the PKB one.<\/p>\n
The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) received one deputy post,
\nwhile the Reform Star Party (PBR) got neither a chair or a deputy
\nchair.<\/p>\n
One commission and five auxiliary bodies chairmanships remain
\nvacant and will be discussed on Friday.<\/p>\n
Leaders of rival factions belonging to the People's Coalition
\nsaid they would challenge the legitimacy of the commission
\nelections at the Supreme Court, but did not say when they would
\nfile a petition.<\/p>\n
The People's Coalition -- consisting of the United Development
\nFaction, Democratic Faction, National Mandate Faction, Prosperous
\nJustice Faction and the Democratic Pioneer Reform Faction -- has
\nboycotted all House meetings since the Nationhood Coalition
\nrejected a proposal to distribute the commission and auxiliary
\nbody chairmanships proportionately.<\/p>\n
Under a proportional system, large factions such as Golkar and
\nthe PDI-P would receive more chairman posts than smaller factions
\nsuch as the PBR and PDS.<\/p>\n
The Nationhood Coalition rejected the proportional system in
\nfavor of a vote, which would guarantee it control over all of the
\ncommissions and auxiliary bodies. The coalition has vowed to
\ncontrol the House following the crushing defeat of its
\npresidential candidate, Megawati Soekarnoputri, in the Sept. 20
\nelection.<\/p>\n
If the Nationhood Coalition is able to control the
\nchairmanships of the House commissions, President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono would have a difficult time pushing through his
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
\"We can no longer delay the election process. We have to start
\nworking because the government is already in place,\" House Deputy
\nSpeaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno of the PDI-P said before opening
\nthe election for the chair of Commission II on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The elections were attended by legislators from the Nationhood
\nCoalition and the PKB. PAN legislators attended the leadership
\nelections for Commissions III, IV and VII. Alvin Lie and Sudjud
\nSiradjuddin of PAN were elected as deputy chairmen of Commission
\nIV and VII, respectively. However, they later withdrew from the
\nposts.<\/p>\n
PAN faction chairman Abdillah Toha said the People's Coalition
\nwould discuss the possibility of issuing a motion of no-
\nconfidence against the current House leaders and seeking an
\nopinion from the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
House leaders and the chairmen of all 10 factions in the
\nlegislature held a meeting on Thursday, during which they agreed
\nto delay the commission elections until Friday. The People's
\nCoalition also agreed to submit the names of their commission
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
Members of the Nationhood Coalition, however, ignored the
\nagreement and went ahead with the election of commission leaders
\nlater in the day.<\/p>",
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