President-legislature row escalates<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Tension between the President and legislators
\nescalated further on Friday, with both sides exchanging \"threats
\nof action\" in relation to the special session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) scheduled for Aug. 1, 2001.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid has set a one-week
\ndeadline for the People's Consultative Assembly to decide that
\nthe coming special session will not turn out to be his
\nimpeachment process, otherwise he will take stern action.<\/p>\n
\"I will give them until next Friday... Do not violate the
\nConstitution or I will take stern action,\" Abdurrahman remarked,
\nafter Friday prayers in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
However, he did not elaborate on what kind of action he would
\ntake should the Assembly refuse to back down from the planned
\nspecial session.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Abdurrahman contended that his five-year
\nterm of office was guaranteed by the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"Let the MPR stage the special session, but it should not have
\nan agenda for impeachment because my tenure until 2004 is
\nguaranteed by the Constitution,\" he said in a ceremony at the
\nState Palace to mark the formulation of Pancasila, the state
\nideology.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais dismissed
\nthe President's threat, saying Gus Dur might be mistaken about
\nconstitutional facts.<\/p>\n
He said the President should learn more about the Constitution
\nto avoid making such statements.<\/p>\n
Amien said that, despite the threat and pro-government
\ndemonstrations, the Assembly would go ahead with the special
\nsession recommended by the House of Representatives, and request
\nthe President's accountability.<\/p>\n
\"Gus Dur's fate will be determined in the special session. If
\nthe President's accountability is accepted, he will stay in
\npower. However, if his accountability is rejected he will be
\ngone,\" Amien said after the plenary session of the Assembly's
\nWorking Committee at the MPR building.<\/p>\n
Sutjipto, secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), declined to comment on the
\nPresident's statement, saying the government is ailing in the
\nface of the special session.<\/p>\n
He reiterated that PDI Perjuangan and its faction at the
\nAssembly were determined to solve the conflict constitutionally
\nand democratically.<\/p>\n
Sutradara Gintings, chairman of the Indonesian Nationhood
\nfaction at the House of Representatives, called on the two sides
\nto work hard in trying to calm down the heated political
\nsituation by attempting to seek a political compromise prior to
\nthe session.<\/p>\n
\"Politicians in the legislature are trying to avoid airing
\ncontroversial statements prior to the special session but the
\nPresident still needs more time to do so,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said that he is still open to possibilities for
\ncompromise, as long as it did not threaten the country's unity.<\/p>\n
\"We will continue to seek compromise, but I stress that if it
\nconcerns this country's unity, there will be no
\ncompromise...there will be no choice other than stern action,\"
\nthe President said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said he had opened his door wide but his political
\nopponents had apparently closed their door for compromise, unless
\nsuch a compromise be pursued during the upcoming special session.<\/p>\n
Later in the day, during an interview with TVRI state
\ntelevision, Abdurrahman criticized his opponents' action of
\ninfluencing the media and security personnel to move against him.<\/p>\n
The President lashed out, in particular, at the National
\nPolice chief, Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, for the shooting of his
\nsupporters in Pasuruan, East Java, that resulted in one death.<\/p>\n
\"It is a crime for the state to shoot at their citizens,\" he
\nremarked, adding that he had mentioned it to Bimantoro.<\/p>\n
Separately, Bimantoro said the President had asked him to
\nresign because of the Pasuruan incident, but he rejected to bow
\ndown, claiming such action was against prevailing regulations.<\/p>\n
\"The President has asked me to resign. I will not,\" Bimantoro
\ntold reporters at his office on Friday evening.<\/p>\n
Although he is cornered, Abdurrahman has also said that he
\nwill not bow down and resign.<\/p>\n
\"I will not resign and if the unity of the country is at
\nstake, I will not hesitate to take stern action against all
\nparties, without exception,\" Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
The President further reiterated that six provinces will
\ndeclare independence should he resign, so he announced that he
\nmust stay in power not because he wanted to but because he had
\nto.<\/p>\n
\"Leaders from six provinces, not state officials but local
\nleaders, told me that they will declare independence if I
\nresign...I can't step down now because I don't want to,\" he
\nremarked. (dja\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-legislature-row-escalates-1447893297",
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