Assembly session not to impeach President Wahid, says Amien Rais
Assembly session not to impeach President Wahid, says Amien Rais
JAKARTA (JP): People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
Rais assured foreign investors on Friday that the President's
progress report in the August general session of the Assembly was
not an accountability hearing that could lead to impeachment.
"The general session is not an extraordinary forum which could
be used to topple the President," Amien told participants of the
Indonesian International Telecommunication, Media and Information
Technology Conference and Exhibition (IITELMIT).
Also speaking in the forum held by Harvest International were
House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who also chairs
the Golkar Party, and Minister of Forestry Nurmahmudi Nur Ismail,
the former president of the Justice Party.
Amien, who is the National Mandate Party chairman, agreed it
was quite unfair to sack President Abdurrahman Wahid while he has
been in charge for only nine months doing abundant homework to
restore the country.
There is a possibility, although very small, to turn the
Assembly general session into an extraordinary session only if
Gus Dur, as the President is popularly known, fails to impress
until August.
He said that the President has a chance to change his style
and improve his administration in order to safely pass the
general session.
Earlier in his introduction, Amien repeatedly said he could
easily bang his gavel to change the general session into an
extraordinary session.
When asked whether he supported an idea to give Abdurrahman
the role as senior adviser, Amien responded, "I agree with the
idea that we choose a first minister to run the administration
while naming Gus Dur senior adviser," Amien said.
Akbar asserted the general session could not be used to file a
vote of no-confidence which might result in the President's
dismissal.
"In the session, the Assembly will just give the President
strong recommendations," Akbar said.
Nurmahmudi said he regretted certain parties' efforts to shake
the national stability by circulating rumors of an extraordinary
Assembly session. (jun)