Abdurrahman-House clash can be avoided

Abdurrahman-House clash can be avoided

SINGAPORE: Indonesia could be heading towards a constitutional
duel, depending on what Parliament chooses to do with an
investigation report which found that President Abdurrahman Wahid
had acted improperly in two cases of public finance.

If the legislators give vent to their frustrations at having
been sidelined, one could see the start of a messy impeachment
process. This would be a calamity for the country, but there are
persuasive reasons to think it may not come to that.

Abdurrahman says he has the support of Vice-President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's party, which has one-third of the seats. With his
own Nation Awakening Party's 10 percent of the House, the bulwark
is sturdy enough to convince those who want to go all the way
that the price in national security is much too high to pay.

But the chief argument is legalistic: The findings were not
conclusive enough to justify action stronger than a reprimand for
Abdurrahman's role in the matter. There was inference of
impropriety in the handling of a total of US$5.7 billion (S$9.9
billion) in state funds and a donation from the Sultan of Brunei,
but the parliamentary committee did not say specifically the
President was directly or indirectly involved. "I did not see any
money," he has again insisted on nationwide television.

Still, such is the degree of ill-will generated between
President and Parliament that nothing drastic can be foreclosed.
The bottom line is that the corruption investigation has become a
proxy fight, Parliament's way of getting even with Abdurrahman.

It wants the respect it is due from the chief executive, who
has proclaimed openly he owes his mandate to the People's
Consultative Assembly, the higher body which appointed him. This
is true but he did not have to marginalize the lower chamber.

This has been an undue distraction, regrettable in view of
Indonesia's steady descent into disorder. If Parliament can make
its point with just a motion, thereby asserting its authority,
and Abdurrahman would act suitably chastised, an impending crisis
would pass.

There are more pressing matters of the economy and provincial
unrest that require his focus. It is in Abdurrahman's hands to
fashion a better working relationship with the legislators and,
by extension, conduct his office with due regard for process. He
has often been disdainful of this less powerful chamber and its
place in the constitutional structure. At the corruption
hearings, he had refused to be sworn in and left after a brief
stay. On a previous occasion when he was called to account, he
had said he would turn over routine governing to his Vice-
President. Legislators still wait for the day.

This is a good time for Abdurrahman to draw in his horns, and
desist from theatrics such as warning of 85,000 faithful marching
on Jakarta to protect his flank.

His office and personal standing would still have taken a
battering, even if the current action by parliamentarians ends up
a damp squib. With each such episode, the moral force which
counts for so much in Indonesian public life ebbs away little by
little.

On Monday, thousands of students opposed to Abdurrahman
attempted to force their way into Parliament as it debated the
issue. They have brought down a sitting President before, and the
manner of Joseph Estrada's exit in the Philippines lends an
uncomfortable edge to street happenings in Jakarta. The vengeful
mood of pro-Soeharto forces, smarting from the patriarch's
decline and his son Tommy's fugitive status, are another reminder
of how vulnerable Abdurrahman is.

-- The Straits Times/Asia News Network