Amien pours cold water on move to summon Mega

Amien pours cold water on move to summon Mega

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post , Jakarta

A recent move by legislators to summon President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to explain her recent visit to the newly declared
country of East Timor met with strong opposition from fellow
lawmakers on Tuesday.

"The visit took place and brought no negative impact (to the
country). Why (do they) create a problem?" asked Amien Rais, the
chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and speaker of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

"As a House member, I think it (the proposal to summon the
President) would only create a new problem," Amien said without
elaborating.

Baharuddin Aritonang of the Golkar faction, the second largest
faction in the House, also expressed opposition to the proposal,
calling the petition a "childish move".

The two lawmakers were responding to a move initiated by
Golkar's Yasril Ananta Baharuddin to summon Megawati over her
visit to East Timor when the tiny country declared its
independence on May 19. The move had gained the support of 31
legislators from all factions but the military/police faction.

The move, if pursued, could spark political bickering between
the legislative and the executive, which could lead to a
weakening governance.

Earlier, a group of legislators submitted a petition demanding
Megawati to explain the source of a Rp 30 billion donation she
gave to the military and police in February.

Political observers expressed fear that the proposal could
affect the performance of the House of Representatives (DPR) in
deliberating bills. The House had pledged to deliberate and pass
22 bills in the next three months.

Apart from the 22 bills, the House also has to deliberate
bills on elections and political parties, which are urgently
needed for the elections in 2004.

In the January to March session, the House failed to meet its
legislation target. Of the 22 bills up before the House, the
legislators could only deliberate and enact three into law.

Responding to the opposition and criticism, some legislators
that lent support to the move denied speculation that it would
affect the legislation process.

Hamdan Zoelva of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) said the
petition to summon Megawati would not take much time.

"It would only take two hours, so that speculation is only an
exaggeration," Hamdan told The Jakarta Post.

Fellow legislator Rodjil Ghufron of the National Awakening
Party (PKB) concurred, saying that the slow-paced process of
deliberation was caused by the importance of the draft law.

Citing an example, Rodjil said that the deliberation of the
bill on the anticorruption commission was stalled due to the
inability of legislators and government officials to outline the
commission's authority.

The bill on the anticorruption commission was one of the 22
draft laws before the House in the last session, but a team of
legislators and government officials was still working on it.

"This is simply because of the bill's content. The team is
unable to outline the authority of the anticorruption
commission," Rodjil told the Post.