PKB is a no-show at House plenary session<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators of the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) were nowhere to be seen during the House of Representatives
\nplenary session on Thursday at which President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri gave her state-of-the nation address.<\/p>\n
The 57 seats allotted to the PKB legislators were left vacant.
\nHouse leaders had no formal explanation about the matter.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, PKB leaders agreed in a national working meeting
\nthat the party's faction would return to the House after it
\nwithdrew in protest at the removal of then president Abdurrahman
\nWahid, its paramount leader.<\/p>\n
Ali Masjkur Musa, a member of the PKB faction in the House,
\nsaid on Wednesday that the party's invitation to attend the House
\nplenary session was a form of recognition of the faction's
\npresence in the legislative body.<\/p>\n
PKB chairman Alwi Shihab told The Jakarta Post that all the
\nHouse members from that PKB had gone to the provinces \"to
\ndisseminate information about the results of this week's national
\nmeeting\".<\/p>\n
Muhaimin Iskandar, a deputy House speaker, was sick, according
\nto Alwi. \"But we will definitely be back in the House on Aug.
\n18,\" Alwi said.<\/p>\n
PKB leaders chose to visit their constituents instead of
\nattending the House plenary session to listen to Megawati's
\nmaiden state-of-the-nation address.<\/p>\n
This, according to Alwi, was because the politicians intend to
\nmobilize grassroots support to block an attempt by the dismissed
\nPKB chief Matori Abdul Djalil to hold an extraordinary congress
\nand challenge his dismissal.<\/p>\n
Matori was fired for attending the People's Consultative
\nAssembly Special Session, boycotted by the PKB, in which
\nAbdurrahman was removed from the presidency. Matori, however,
\nconsiders his dismissal as party chief unlawful. In an apparent
\ntoken of appreciation for Matori's show of support for her,
\nMegawati, who was elected president on July 23, appointed him
\ndefense minister.<\/p>\n
Alwi said that the faction had decided to return to the House
\nand welcomed the friendly gesture from the House and Assembly.<\/p>\n
He further disclosed that the faction would nominate a
\nreplacement for dismissed chairman Matori Abdul Djalil for the
\nAssembly deputy speaker position.<\/p>\n
\"We have two candidates, Yusuf Muhammad or Ma'aruf Amin to
\nbecome the Assembly deputy speaker,\" Alwi said after the
\nceremony.<\/p>\n
Matori said he believed the PKB legislators were too
\nembarrassed to attend Thursday's House plenary after they
\nwithdrew from the House only to decide to return.<\/p>\n
Before opening the plenary meeting, House Speaker Akbar
\nTandjung told journalists that some House members might ask
\nquestions if the PKB faction showed up.<\/p>\n
He said the legislators were demanding that the PKB clarify
\nits stance on the decree issued by president Abdurrahman, in
\nwhich he ordered that the House and the Assembly be dissolved,
\nbefore the party's factions could return to the legislative
\nbodies.<\/p>\n
Matori also ridiculed the PKB legislators for demanding an
\nallowance for the various House meetings that they never
\nattended, including the Special Session which they had rejected.<\/p>\n
\"It's shameful,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais reiterated on Friday
\nthat the Assembly would welcome the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) faction back, saying that it was better to look to the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after attending the flag-hoisting
\nceremony, Amien said that it was not important for the faction to
\nmake any clarification, as long as it had a bona fide intention
\nto return to the Assembly.<\/p>\n
\"We have a difficult task ahead of us, so if it has a good
\nintention to come back please do ... we do not want to prolong
\nthe issue anymore. Having it back with us will be the most
\nimportant thing,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
He underlined that with the presence of the faction at the
\nAssembly, it showed that its stance, which was previously one of
\nsupport for former president Abdurrahman Wahid, had changed.<\/p>\n
\"I have talked to Pak Akbar, saying that the faction would
\nlike to notify the House that it is returning ... we should not
\nmake a fuss anymore over the matter,\" Amien said. (dja\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pkb-is-a-no-show-at-house-plenary-session-1447893297",
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