Assembly likely to vote on Habibie's accountability report

JAKARTA (JP): A vote by members of the People's Consultative Assembly will settle the issue of whether President B.J. Habibie clears the first hurdle in his bid for a new term.

As his term draws to a close, Habibie has been under almost constant fire, including from within his own Golkar Party, and must convince the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Thursday of the benefits of his 16-month tenure.

Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said on Wednesday he approved the need for a vote, but only as a last resort to decide the MPR's stance on the President's speech.

Sabam Sirait of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Aisyah Amini of the United Development Party (PPP), and Alwi Shihab of the National Awakening Party (PKB) concurred, but suggested that the MPR factions deliberate the speech and seek a consensus on the matter.

"Voting will be the most appropriate manner if the MPR is split on whether to accept the speech," said Sabam, who chairs the Assembly Ad Hoc Committee II in charge of deliberation of draft decrees other than the State Policy Guidelines.

The Assembly last turned down an accountability speech delivered in 1968 by founding president Sukarno. It was a move that effectively dethroned him after 23 years in power.

Under the New Order, the Assembly unanimously accepted every accountability report presented by Soeharto. Before Soeharto stepped down in May last year, the same Assembly elected Soeharto to the nation's top job for six consecutive terms.

Aisyah said voting on Habibie's speech appeared to be unavoidable because the MPR was split between pro and anti- Habibie camps. "A vote is the only way to determine the MPR's final decision," she said.

Aisyah said all Assembly members should be able to understand the indicators necessary to judge the speech and that she was optimistic that Assembly members would make an objective assessment of the speech.

"MPR decrees endorsed during the extraordinary session last year will serve as our guidelines to judge Pak Habibie. Acceptance of his speech will depend on whether he complies with those decrees."

PKB deputy chairman Alwi Shihab said that voting was the fairest method of appraising Habibie's performance.

"I agree with that (voting), but this is my personal wish. I think this is a democratic practice Indonesian people must encourage," he said.

Meanwhile, law expert Muchsan from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University opposed the voting method as a way of evaluating the President's accountability report.

He said that in addition to the mechanism's vulnerability to money politics, voting was not characteristic of Indonesian people.

He said that to ensure a fair evaluation, Assembly members must appraise the speech from a political, legal and ethical perspective.

The Ad Hoc Commission II endorsed on Wednesday a new practice which obliges the president to attend a plenary MPR session to hear a response from the various factions to his or her accountability speech.

"The MPR decree issued last year stipulates that it's compulsory for the president to be present and listen to the responses," committee chairman Sabam said.

He acknowledged that the decree did not rule on disciplining the incumbent for failing to attend the session, but said the president might be allowed to skip the session for health reasons.

All 11 factions in the MPR are scheduled to present their responses to the speech on Friday and Saturday. (02/44/emf)