Avoid government, House antagonism, Soeharto says

Avoid government, House antagonism, Soeharto says

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) has a
position equal to that of the president, and the two state
institutions should cooperate rather than engage in
confrontation, President Soeharto says.

Soeharto pointed out in his meeting with the new House
leadership yesterday the country needed a strong government as
well as solid representative bodies in order to deal with
increasingly complicated challenges in the next century.

"The President said the two high institutions should avoid
power struggles and not harass each other," House Speaker Harmoko
said after meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

Yesterday's meeting was Harmoko's first as Soeharto's equal.
He served Soeharto as minister of information for 14 years before
being replaced by Gen. (ret) R. Hartono in June.

Harmoko was later appointed state minister for special
assignments, a position he held briefly until his induction as a
legislator on Oct. 1. He is also the speaker of the 1,000-strong
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the highest state body
which has the authority to elect and dismiss a president.

Harmoko said: "I reported in our consultation the recent
developments in the House."

Harmoko was accompanied yesterday by four deputy speakers: Lt.
Gen. Syarwan Hamid of the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction, Abdul
Gafur of the dominant Golkar faction (which Harmoko also chairs),
Ismail Hasan Metareum of the United Development Party (PPP) and
Fatimah Achmad of the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

The 500-strong House of Representatives is made up of 325
Golkar legislators, 89 PPP representatives, and 11 members from
the PDI. The remaining 75 seats have been given to the Armed
Forces whose members do not vote.

Members of the House automatically also belong to the MPR. The
other 500 seats in the Assembly have been distributed to the
three poll contestants, ABRI, national organizations and
institutions, and various professions.

Analysts have long said the House has been too submissive to
the point of being a mere rubber stamp for the executive body.

"We agreed with the President that the DPR should take more
initiatives in creating legislation," Harmoko said.

The New Order government has seen 375 executive branch-
initiated bills deliberated in the DPR, but there has not been
any single bill initiated by the House in the last 29 years.

Draft

Separately, minority factions PPP and PDI continued yesterday
with their struggle to have their drafts of state policies used
as a reference for deliberation at the MPR working committee
sessions.

H.M. Buang of the PPP and Sudaryanto of the PDI separately
said they were maintaining their stance despite the dominant
Golkar faction's insistence to have its own draft used.

Golkar enjoys the support of the equally powerful Armed Forces
faction and the regional representatives faction.

"This (competition) occurs because each faction believes its
own draft is the best. The PPP draft was drawn up in a process
that involved experts, ulemas and the public, in order to ensure
that it accommodated many people's aspirations," Buang was quoted
by Antara as saying.

The stalemate over the issue in the MPR working committee
began Wednesday and continued yesterday. The Armed Forces
faction, however, rejected the possibility of voting in order to
end the deadlock.

"We are trying to prevent it (a vote) from happening," said
Hari Sabarno, the faction's spokesman. "ABRI will try to bridge
all factions' views."

Although voting is not against any laws, it is frowned upon by
Indonesians who place greater importance on reaching a consensus
through deliberation.

"If deliberation is no longer possible, maybe then we can hold
a vote," Hari was quoted by Antara as saying.

The MPR working committee is in charge of both preparing a
document of state policy guidelines, to be adopted next March,
and electing a president and vice president for the 1998/2003
term. (prb/swe)