Retired generals push for MPR special session<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of 18 retired generals are demanding
\nthat the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) hold an
\nextraordinary session no later than July to revoke decrees
\ninstalling Soeharto as president and B.J. Habibie as vice
\npresident.<\/p>\n
The deadline was stipulated in a statement made available to
\nthe press yesterday and signed by the group's coordinator, former
\nCommander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Lt. Gen. (ret.) Achmad
\nKemal Idris.<\/p>\n
The statement said they rejected the agreement reached between
\nthe House of Representative and the government that an
\nextraordinary session be held in six months time.<\/p>\n
They argued in their statement that, apart from revoking the
\ndecrees, the Assembly should immediately elect a caretaker
\npresident or presidium.<\/p>\n
One of the signatories, Let. Gen. (ret.) Ali Sadikin, said
\nSoeharto could not simply delegate his presidential mandate to
\nhis deputy.<\/p>\n
\"Such a sudden presidential succession cannot be held just
\nlike that. It must be held before an extraordinary session of the
\nMPR,\" the former governor of Jakarta told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"A presidential succession is not like the election of a
\nvillage chief. An outgoing president must be held accountable for
\nall the policies that he or she introduced,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Under intense pressure from mounting protests, Soeharto
\nresigned May 21 and handed over power to Habibie.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Harmoko, after meeting with Habibie on Thursday,
\nsaid they had agreed that an extraordinary session of the
\nAssembly would be held at the end of the year or early next year
\nto set the date for the polls.<\/p>\n
Harmoko also brushed aside suggestions that the extraordinary
\nsession would seek an accountability address from Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"We, based on the spirit of total reform, declare our
\nrejection of the said agreement (between the House leaders and
\nHabibie),\" said the statement from the senior officers of the
\nArmed Forces' 1945 generation.<\/p>\n
They closed their statement, which was signed by Kemal on
\nFriday, by stating that \"the entire reform movement must be
\nimplemented peacefully and constitutionally\".<\/p>\n
Other signatories of the statement included former Army chiefs
\nGen. (ret.) Makmun Murod and Gen. (ret.) Rudini; former Air Force
\nchief (ret.) Air Marshal Ashadi Tjahjadi; former Police chief
\nGen. (ret.) Awaloedin Djamin; former House\/Assembly Speaker Lt.
\nGen. (ret.) M. Kharis Suhud; former Secretary for National
\nDevelopment Operations Lt. Gen. (ret.) Solichin G.P.; former
\nIndonesian Ambassador to the United States Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hasnan
\nHabib and former chief of the Army's special force (Kopasandha,
\nnow Kopassus) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Leo Lopulisa.<\/p>\n
A similar rejection of the agreement between House leaders and
\nHabibie came from former economic minister Frans Seda.<\/p>\n
Frans simply said that waiting to hold the extraordinary
\nsession until the end of this year or even next year was simply
\n\"too long\".<\/p>\n
But Frans did not specify a particular timeframe for the
\nAssembly's extraordinary session.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar on state ideology Pancasila here
\nyesterday, Frans said the Assembly's extraordinary session would
\nbe a crucial point for the current transitional government to
\ncounter doubts on its \"legality\".<\/p>\n
He maintained that there was a question of legality
\nsurrounding the current government, which was not only eroding
\npublic trust but also international confidence, evident in the
\ncontinued stalling of funds to be disbursed by the International
\nMonetary Fund.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is that an international body will only give
\nfinancial assistance to a government which is trustworthy,\" he
\nsaid, adding that there should be no detachment in reforming the
\neconomic and political aspects of the nation.<\/p>\n
\"Fixing politics is part and parcel of remedying the country's
\neconomy,\" he said. (imn\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/retired-generals-push-for-mpr-special-session-1447893297",
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