President empasizes he is still in charge<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid played down on
\nFriday his decision to hand over the day-to-day running of the
\ngovernment to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, saying that
\nhe was still in charge.<\/p>\n
With the debate rolling on at the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR) over whether to issue a decree to regulate the
\njob-sharing arrangement, Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) was quick to warn it would walk out of the MPR Annual
\nSession now underway if the Assembly sought to make the proposal
\ninto a binding decree.<\/p>\n
Speaking to a gathering of senior leaders of the Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU) Muslim organization, Abdurrahman said that what had
\nbeen handed over to Megawati was only the running of the day-to-
\nday technicalities of the government and not the overall
\nauthority for it.<\/p>\n
He said that Megawati would be helped by a coordinating
\nminister in her new jobs.<\/p>\n
\"There is still some confusion about this, so I want to stress
\nhere that what has been handed over to the Vice President is not
\nauthority but duties,\" Abdurrahman, who chaired NU for 15 years
\nbefore being elected as president last year, said.<\/p>\n
\"The authority remains in the President's hands,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Thursday, Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril
\nIhza Mahendra announced on the President's behalf that sharing
\nsome of the presidential workload did not change in anyway the
\npresident's status as both head of state and head of government.<\/p>\n
In his response to the MPR factions' general comments on his
\nadministration on Wednesday, Abdurrahman said he would charge
\nMegawati with the daily tasks of government, drawing up the
\nCabinet agenda and establishing the focus and priorities of
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"Thank God that Mbak Megawati and the MPR leadership have
\naccepted this,\" Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Megawati, who chairs the country's largest party, the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), has not
\nmade any comment so far on her new role. Many analysts have said
\nthat it remains to be seen whether she is capable of doing her
\nduty.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman claimed that he had been informed that the
\nAssembly had agreed that it was not necessary to formalize the
\nwork-sharing arrangement between himself and the Vice President.<\/p>\n
\"When I left for Banjarmasin (on Thursday) we found out that
\n80 percent of the MPR factions had said they would not go ahead
\nwith the MPR decree idea.<\/p>\n
\"Thank God, I checked again and actually all the factions have
\nsaid they would not back the issuance of such a decree,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He warned legislators on Thursday against meddling in
\nexecutive affairs by trying to regulate his plan to share his
\nworkload with Megawati.<\/p>\n
The President said that he would issue a presidential decree
\non Megawati's new role and \"reshuffle and restructure\" the
\nCabinet sometime after the MPR annual meeting, which ends on Aug.
\n18.<\/p>\n
The Assembly's decision on whether to formalize the President
\nand Vice President's work-sharing arrangement will be discussed
\nby the Commission C assigned with assessing the progress reports
\npresented by the state's high institutions. The deliberation
\nstarts on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"We oppose the issue being discussed in the Assembly's
\nCommission C,\" Reform faction member Hatta Radjasa said at the
\ncommission's first meeting.<\/p>\n
The PKB faction threatened to quit the MPR annual session if
\nthe Assembly set its sights on issuing a decree on the issue,
\nsaying it was against the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"We will not participate in the decision-making process, nor
\nbe responsible for any decree that is against the Constitution.
\nWe may walk out of the session if it happens,\" Yusuf Muhammad,
\nchairman of the PKB faction told a media conference.<\/p>\n
Some members of PDI Perjuangan faction spoke of the necessity
\nof the Assembly decree, while the Golkar Party faction said it
\nwas enough for the President to regulate it in a presidential
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
Zulvan Lindan, a member of the PDI Perjuangan faction, said
\nthe Assembly had to issue a decree stipulating Megawati's new
\njob.<\/p>\n
\"The President's pledge cannot be considered a ruling because
\nhe is not firm in his stances. And his stand on the this matter
\ncould change from one day to the next,\" he told The Jakarta Post
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Amien Aryoso, another PDI Perjuangan legislator, said the
\nAssembly could insert the delegation of duty from the President
\nto the Vice President in the decree on the Assembly's
\nrecommendations to the government.<\/p>\n
Hartono Mardjono of the Crescent Star Party declined to
\ncomment, saying his faction was undecided on that matter.<\/p>\n
\"Our faction will support what the commission says,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Endin Achmad Jalaluddin Soefihara of the United Development
\nParty (PPP) faction said if the decree was issued, both the
\nPresident and Vice President should make a progress report to the
\nAssembly's next annual meeting.<\/p>\n
\"If Megawati fails to manage the administration, the Assembly
\nwill have two knives to cut at both Gus Dur and Mega in the next
\nAnnual Session,\" he warned. (byg\/dja\/rms\/jun)<\/p>",
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