No need to 'interrupt' leadership election<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Senior Golkar legislator Akbar Tandjung said
\nyesterday that based on the smooth proceedings so far, he saw no
\nreason for anyone to interrupt either the presidential or vice
\npresidential elections.<\/p>\n
Akbar told reporters that there should be no arguments against
\nthe substance of the state leadership nominations as the Golkar
\nfaction had made a commitment on its presidential and vice
\npresidential candidates.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar legislators will only interrupt the election if there
\nare violations of the (procedural) agreement,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that all of Golkar's 588 legislators had unanimously
\nsupported the renomination of Soeharto and the nomination of the
\noutgoing State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.<\/p>\n
He also said that interruptions on the substance should only
\nbe delivered by each faction's floor leader.<\/p>\n
\"Only the floor leaders know about the overall topics being
\ndiscussed, including the agreement between the five factions in
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the commitment was needed to respond to speculation
\nthat there would be interruptions during Wednesday's vice
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
Speculation on the sidelines of the General Session has been
\nrife that those most likely to interrupt are members of the
\nGolkar faction itself.<\/p>\n
Following the adoption of the State Policy Guidelines and
\nother decrees, the focus of the Assembly's work for the remaining
\ntwo days is the election of the president and vice president.<\/p>\n
There are no foreseeable challenges to the election of
\nSoeharto or Habibie because all five Assembly factions have
\nnominated the two as their sole candidates.<\/p>\n
Akbar said yesterday the only likely interruption would occur
\nif there were procedural deviations or a need for further
\nclarification on a subject being discussed.<\/p>\n
He cited Saturday's interruption in Commission C by Golkar's
\nFahmi Idris. Fahmi interrupted the United Development Party's
\nBachtiar Chamsyah as the latter was perceived to be in violation
\nof the allotted time.<\/p>\n
Golkar's Hajriyanto Thohari lamented that prohibiting Assembly
\nmembers from initiating interruptions during proceedings could
\nhave an adverse psychological impact.<\/p>\n
\"They (Assembly members) then might not have the courage to
\nmake corrections to the session proceedings, which might be
\ninconsistent with the agreement or the regulations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He, however, shared Akbar's opinion that interruptions should
\nnot question substance which had received the prior consent of
\nthe five factions.<\/p>\n
\"Interruptions on the substance should be held during internal
\nmeetings of each faction,\" he said, \"There should not be any more
\ninterruptions on the substance in the Assembly's plenary
\nsession.\"<\/p>\n
He, furthermore, admitted that Assembly members might have
\nproblems with his membership if he dared make an interruption on
\nsubstantial matters.<\/p>\n
\"At the very least a legislator will be reprimanded,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A legislator from the Armed Forces faction, Ibrahim Saleh, was
\ndismissed after he interrupted the 1988 vice presidential
\nelection. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-need-to-interrupt-leadership-election-1447893297",
"image": ""
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