The House's last farce<\/p>\n
The leadership of the outgoing House of Representatives, the
\nlatest performance of which has become target of public
\ncriticism, still has ambitions for the House to be remembered as
\nan effective legislature.<\/p>\n
The House, the last legacy of the fallen regime of president
\nSoeharto, has pushed itself during these final days to approve as
\nmany bills as possible to be passed into law. Among them is the
\ncontroversial state security bill which will surely create work
\nfor the new House, which will take over next month.<\/p>\n
In another effort to boost its prestige on Tuesday, the House
\ninvited President B.J. Habibie to explain his policy on East
\nTimor. The House had expected the President to answer written
\nquestions penned by House members.<\/p>\n
By inviting him to address the House, it expected to break a
\nlong-standing taboo that the head of state only visits the body
\ntwice a year: to propose the new national budget and to give his
\nstate to the nation address on the eve of Independence Day.<\/p>\n
However, the House's invitation to Habibie appears to have
\nbeen for nought. Habibie's speech was criticized as being worth
\nnext to nothing because his explanation failed to answer
\nquestions concerning the East Timor debacle.<\/p>\n
\"The speech failed to cover all pertinent issues. The
\nPresident did not touch at all upon the victims of violence after
\nthe ballot,\" said one legislator.<\/p>\n
Aisyah Amini, a veteran chairwoman of House Commission I for
\nsecurity and defense, said there was nothing new in Habibie's
\nexplanation because her commission had gained similar
\nexplanations from Minister of Defense and Security\/Military
\nCommander. Gen. Wiranto and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
\nAlatas.<\/p>\n
Legislator Sutoyo, former director general of political
\naffairs at the home ministry, said he could not accept the
\nPresident's speech because it was only a self-endorsement of his
\nEast Timor policy.<\/p>\n
The country under Habibie's one-and-a-half-year administration
\nhas lost one province, he said. \"We will lose five or six other
\nprovinces if he leads the country for the next five years,\" he
\nadded emotionally.<\/p>\n
Sutoyo may imagine that the government's decision to offer the
\nEast Timorese special autonomy or separation from Indonesia --
\nobviously designed to set Indonesia free from international
\npressure -- will have far-reaching consequences.<\/p>\n
If at some time the United Nations gets the opportunity to see
\nfirsthand the human rights violations in Aceh, it will surely
\npressure Indonesia to accept the recent demand for referendum by
\nAcehnese taliban (students of Islamic traditional schools). And,
\nreasoning that the nation should be free of international
\npressure, Habibie could very possibly succumb to the demand.<\/p>\n
Disappointment among legislators became all the more evident
\nwhen House Deputy Speaker Abdul Gafur, who presided over the
\nmeeting, denied legislators the right to ask questions by
\nignoring them when they raised their hands to speak. His behavior
\nnot only angered House members, but also turned the rare meeting
\ninto a monolog instead of a lively discussion.<\/p>\n
So both the President and the House leadership have spent
\ntheir precious time for yet another cheap farce.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-houses-last-farce-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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