President strikes back<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid struck back at the
\nHouse of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday, accusing it of
\nbetraying the 1945 Constitution and refusing to answer questions
\non his reasons for firing two economic ministers in April.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur, as the President is popularly called, fulfilled the
\nHouse's summons to appear for questioning, but instead of
\nanswering members' questions, he engaged them in a long lecture
\non his view why the House's interpellation motion is
\nunconstitutional.<\/p>\n
In the House's plenary session, broadcast nationwide, the
\nPresident said Law no. 4\/1999 on the composition and role of the
\nHouse was against the Constitution and asked that it be repealed.<\/p>\n
The interpellation motion was filed by the House to demand the
\nPresident's explanations of why he fired Laksamana Sukardi and
\nYusuf Kalla, respectively investment minister and trade and
\nindustry minister. The House also questioned the appointment of
\nLaksamana's successor, Rozy Munir, as allegations of impropriety
\nagainst him had not been cleared.<\/p>\n
While recognizing the President's prerogative right in
\nappointing and replacing his Cabinet, the House questioned the
\nPresident's claim -- made in a closed door meeting with House
\nleaders shortly after the dismissals -- that the two ministers
\nwere involved in corrupt practices.<\/p>\n
Both men have called the accusations slanderous.<\/p>\n
After his tirade about the interpellation right, the President
\ntold House members that he could not answer the five written
\nquestions submitted by the House to him, saying he could not
\nrespond to confidential matters that had been leaked.<\/p>\n
\"I can assure you that the leak did not come from my office,\"
\nhe said, adding that \"This problem will be over at this point\".<\/p>\n
While some House members were aghast at his response, others
\nbooed the President. A small band of his supporters cheered and
\nclapped.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur, who is almost blind, took the podium briefly to give
\na run down of his response before asking Secretary of State
\nDjohan Effendi to read the written response.<\/p>\n
Speculation<\/p>\n
There has been abundant speculation about who would read the
\ntext of Abdurrahman's speech, with Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri mentioned as most likely because she read the
\nPresident's budget speech in January. But the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which Megawati
\nchairs, urged her not to take on the task because of a possible
\nconflict of interest.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan joined forces with Golkar to begin the
\ninterpellation motion, because Laksamana was a minister from PDI
\nPerjuangan while Yusuf was from Golkar.<\/p>\n
The President insisted that he was not under any obligation to
\ncome and fulfill the House's summons. He said he turned up,
\nnevertheless, to show that all state institutions must respect
\none another if democracy in Indonesia is to work smoothly.<\/p>\n
\"I have been asked by many people not to come to the House,\"
\nhe said. \"I came, nevertheless, in consideration of the democracy
\nin this country.\"<\/p>\n
The interpellation right is guaranteed under the 1999 law but
\nunlike a parliamentary democratic system, the House does not have
\nthe right to initiate a motion of no confidence.<\/p>\n
This has been a sticking point in the debate ahead of the
\nPresident's appearance at the House on Thursday, a point again
\nreiterated by the President in his response.<\/p>\n
\"This is a presidential system of government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The House cannot bring down a president nor can the president
\ndissolve the House, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The president is not accountable to the House. The president
\nwill give his account at the end of his term to the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR),\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The president, if he meets the House's summons under the
\ninterpellation right, could be accused of violating the 1945
\nConstitution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, Abdurrahman accused the House's major factions
\nof using the interpellation right to unseat him, and believed
\nthat it was a systematic campaign that would peak when he gives a
\nprogress report of his first 10 months in office to MPR in
\nAugust.<\/p>\n
The President pointed his finger at legislators who leaked his
\ncomments from the April closed-door consultation for causing the
\nfuror.<\/p>\n
\"If I comment on something which cannot be opened to the
\npublic, I would be compounding the mistakes of those had violated
\nthe regulations and ethics of the meetings, and it would
\ncomplicate the matter further,\" he said in his 17 page-written
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
This was the second time that Abdurrahman has been summoned
\nunder the House's interpellation right.<\/p>\n
In November, he was taken to task by the House for his
\ndecision to dissolve the Ministry of Information and Ministry of
\nSocial Services upon taking office in October.<\/p>\n
At the time, he did not quibble over the use of the
\ninterpellation right, but angered House members when he described
\nthem as a bunch of \"kindergarten students\".<\/p>\n
Unlike the November meeting, the President did not make any
\nattempt to crack jokes in his responses.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere was tense and Gus Dur may even have set off
\nanother polemic when he accused the House of treating some of his
\nministers as \"convicts\" during their hearings.<\/p>\n
There were some light moments during the plenary session,
\nwhich went on for more than four hours including a one-hour lunch
\nbreak, but none came from Gus Dur.<\/p>\n
One such occurrence came when two legislators addressed
\nMegawati as Ibu President (Mrs. President).<\/p>\n
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, chairing the session, banged the
\ngavel too hard when opening the meeting, conceding that he had
\nlittle sleep the previous night because of a lengthy meeting with
\nhis Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur appeared to have dozed off on several occasions during
\nthe hearing.<\/p>\n
\"Mr. President I have to shout Merdeka (freedom) just to wake
\nyou up,\" legislator Permadi said before raising his question.<\/p>\n
The President burst into laughter when a legislator mistakenly
\nsaid he had different pendapatan (income), when he wanted to say
\nhe had different pendapat (opinion) from the President.<\/p>\n
The President could not hide his tiredness when legislator
\nEkky Sjahruddin persuaded him to say a few words before leaving
\nthe House.<\/p>\n
In all, there were 24 House members who commented or asked
\nquestions of the President but Akbar cut short the meeting just
\nafter 2 p.m. saying that the President had other business.<\/p>\n
The President agreed to respond to the comments and questions
\nin writing to be submitted by late Friday at the latest.<\/p>\n
Laksamana who attended the session as a PDI Perjuangan
\nlegislator, said Gus Dur did not give substantial answers to what
\nhe insisted were simple questions.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not disappointed, but I regret that the matter could not
\nbe solved immediately,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Laksamana said he had forgiven Gus Dur for making the
\nslanderous accusation.<\/p>\n
Yusuf Kalla told the SCTV private TV station that the
\nPresident failed to prove his allegation. (emb\/jun\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-strikes-back-1447893297",
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