Abdurrahman's speech
Abdurrahman's speech
On the surface of it, President Abdurrahman Wahid's anxiously
awaited televised response -- if indeed it can be called a
response -- to the House of Representatives' motion of censure
passed on Monday could be regarded as conciliatory in tone. The
President expressed his gratitude to all the parties involved in
the events of the past few days, and the House of Representatives
(DPR) in particular "for restoring the government to its proper
position as stipulated by the Constitution".
Abdurrahman also expressed his appreciation of all the state's
security personnel and the Indonesian Military for having
maintained public order and the participants in Sunday's
istighotsah mass prayer for their orderly behavior during the
gathering, which he said was a token of their "mature attitude
and leaning". The President also did not forget to thank the
executive and judiciary branches of government for having
suitably performed their duties "to run the government,
especially to improve conditions and uphold the values laid down
in the Constitution".
"Let us therefore together undertake (the country's)
development in every aspect and work, in particular, toward our
country's economic revival in order that Indonesia may become a
great and triumphant nation, one that is respected by other
nations of the world as befits the size of its population and
territory," Abdurrahman said, concluding his speech which took
only about five minutes to deliver.
So far, so good. What leaves Indonesians more than just a
little nervous and could potentially send the world of business
and investment tumbling even further, though, is what was left
unsaid or thinly hidden between the lines.
Not one word was said about the House of Representatives'
motion of censure -- a clear snub of the national legislature,
who Abdurrahman has repeatedly said has no authority to pass
judgment on his performance as chief executive and whose motion
is therefore unconstitutional. The President instead chided the
legislature for failing to attend to its own duties, such as
passing legislation.
"The DPR and the MPR (People's Consultative Assembly) have no
light duties to perform. For the DPR (this includes) passing
legislation or drafting laws, 160 of which are still in the DPR's
hands and are waiting to be finalized," Abdurrahman said.
Only a day earlier, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung emphasized
that with the House having passed its motion, everything now
depended on how the President would respond, but he questioned
whether the President could significantly improve his performance
in just a month's time. Quite clearly, Abdurrahman's response --
again, if this is his response to the DPR's motion of censure --
can be expected to antagonize the majority of legislators in the
DPR.
What that is likely to mean is that the House will call on the
MPR to convene a special session, which could -- but may not
necessarily -- lead to President Abdurrahman Wahid's impeachment.
With Abdurrahman continuing to refuse to resign, a much more
elegant solution to the country's leadership problem would be for
all the parties involved to work out a real power-sharing scheme,
with President Abdurrahman Wahid staying on as head of state and
Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri taking the position of head
of government. Unfortunately, chances are slim that such a
formula can be worked out.
Still, events that are taking place at present in the
Philippines warn us that stubborn persistence on the part of our
political parties to stick to their respective points of view
could lead the nation into more trouble than it is prepared to
suffer. Under such circumstances, working toward a compromise
that is acceptable to all still seems to be the best way out. In
any case, with an impasse looming as a real possibility,
practically all that is left for Indonesians to do is to continue
to wait and see how things will work out and hope that good
reason will prevail among all those who hold the well-being of
the nation in the palms of their hands.