Winds of change sweep the Assembly<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hope is high that the seeds of democracy, sowed
\nduring the June general election, will bear fruit when the 700
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) legislators begin their
\nterms on Friday.<\/p>\n
A number of people blacklisted during the New Order regime for
\ntheir stiff opposition to the rule of Soeharto will be among
\nthose sworn in to the new Assembly, which will hold its General
\nSession.<\/p>\n
Nobody would have expected that the likes of Aberson Marle
\nSihaloho, who was jailed in 1996 for defaming Soeharto, or A.M.
\nFatwa, who was sent to prison for subversion following an
\nuprising in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, in 1984, would emerge
\nas members of the respected Assembly.<\/p>\n
For others, the new period serves as a reunion for those who
\nhave retained their seats. Golkar Party's Ekky Syahrudin, Andi
\nMattalata, Marwah Daud Ibrahim will join forces, while Aisyah
\nAmini and Khofifah Indar Parawansa meet again with different
\nteams. Until November last year, both were legislators
\nrepresenting the United Development Party, but this time around
\nKhofifah is representing the National Awakening Party.<\/p>\n
Not all of the 700 members will turn up for the induction
\nceremony on Friday. General Elections Commission secretary Samad
\nThahir said at least 15 regional representatives from East Timor,
\nAceh and Southeast Sulawesi would miss the ceremony.<\/p>\n
MPR comprises 462 House of Representatives members elected in
\nthe June 7 polls, 38 representatives of Indonesian Military and
\nNational Police, 135 regional representatives and 65
\nrepresentatives of various interest groups.<\/p>\n
Friday's function will mark the start of weeks of debate in
\nthe General Session, during which the MPR members will decide on
\nits internal rules, State Policy Guidelines and constitutional
\namendments before finally electing a president for the 1999\/2004
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
Apart from the presidential election, Golkar Party chairman
\nAkbar Tandjung said amendment of the 1945 Constitution would
\nhighlight the General Session.<\/p>\n
\"The amendment will most likely focus on how to enforce the
\nprinciple of check and balance among the state's highest
\ninstitutions,\" Akbar said.<\/p>\n
Before electing its speaker on Saturday, the Assembly will
\nmost likely name its oldest member Abdul Majid of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle, 72, and its youngest member Izul
\nIslam of United Development Party, 29, to preside over the
\nsession.<\/p>\n
On the eve of oath-taking before Chief Justice Sarwata, the
\nAssembly agreed to break a long-standing taboo. On Friday, they
\nwill be allowed to remain seated while the President enters or
\nleaves the Assembly hall.<\/p>\n
Some legislators objected the old protocol, insisting that the
\nAssembly was the state's highest institution according to the
\n1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
But an Assembly member representing interest groups, Mohammad
\nAssegaf, disputed the new convention, saying the President, as
\nthe head of state, deserved the tribute. \"I will rise even though
\nother members remain seated,\" Assegaf said during a rehearsal for
\nFriday's ceremony.<\/p>\n
The legislators will not attend a procession at Lubang Buaya
\nMonument in East Jakarta prior to their induction either. In the
\npast, Assembly members commemorated the Indonesian Military's
\ncrushing of a 1965 coup attempt, which was blamed on the now
\nbanned Indonesian Communist Party, at the monument before they
\nwere installed.<\/p>\n
With different opinions becoming the order of the day, some
\nlegislators have predicted that many decisions will be reached
\nonly after a vote is taken.<\/p>\n
Priyo Budi Santoso of Golkar said: \"Even birds of a feather
\nwill possibly not flock together this time around. I don't think
\nwe are 100 percent united in some areas, including on the issue
\nof the presidency.\"<\/p>\n
Golkar has named incumbent B.J. Habibie its sole presidential
\ncandidate, although a rift appears to be forming over the
\ndecision. (emf\/amd)<\/p>",
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