Beethoven and memorandum debate keep President busy

Beethoven and memorandum debate keep President busy

JAKARTA (JP): As legislators argued over the issuance of a
second memorandum of censure, President Abdurrahman Wahid and
Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri kept a low profile on
Monday, deciding instead to join millions glued to their
television sets to watch the proceedings.

Neither of them made a public appearance, with the whole day
cleared of state functions to keep an eye on events at the House
of Representatives.

Abdurrahman followed the proceedings on a television set in
his office at the Merdeka Palace.

But apparently the various arguments being presented at the
House were not exclusively capturing his attention.

Presidential Secretary Mudjib Manan said the President also
listened to music by Beethoven at the same time.

The President also got regular updates from his adjutants and
Coordinating Minister for Social Political and Security Affairs
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

At lunchtime Abdurraman sat down together with Cabinet
Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak, State Minister of Women's
Empowerment Khofifah Indar Parawansa and newly appointed Minister
of Forestry Marzuki Usman.

"From the morning onwards the President monitored the House
session, but not entirely word for word, on television. He only
received reports and summaries about the situation," said
spokesman Adhie M. Massardi in a statement.

Chief presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said meanwhile
that the President was also in close contact with security
authorities throughout the day to receive updates.

Most of the reports and summaries to the President on the
latest developments were filtered through an Operations Center.

The Operations Center is headed by Susilo and was established
several months ago to monitor and make recommendations and
predictions on various national developments.

Even after the House officially passed the second memorandum
by an overwhelming majority, Abdurrahman and his aides refused to
react.

At 5 p.m. Abdurrahman went to the temporary secretariat of the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization on Jl. Irian, Central
Jakarta.

The purpose of his visit was not clear, but Presidential
spokesman Adhie M. Massardi told The Jakarta Post late on Monday
night that "it is unlikely the President would to issue a
statement tonight."

"The soonest will be tomorrow (Tuesday) morning," Adhie said,
stressing that the President would wait for a recommendation from
Susilo.

"The President's position will completely depend on the
recommendation, which will be issued by Pak Susilo," Adhie
remarked.

The Vice President on the other hand watched the live
broadcast from her temporary office on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central
Jakarta.

The vice presidential residence on Jl. Diponegoro is currently
being renovated.

The residence on Jl. Teuku Umar comprises two buildings. The
first was once used by former president Soeharto as the office of
the Golkar Party advisory board, which he chaired until his fall
in 1998.

Megawati however was sure to get first hand reports of the
proceedings as her husband, Taufik Kiemas, attended the House
session in his capacity as a legislator from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Before turning on the television set in the morning she took a
brief walk in her flower garden.

Then she checked incoming and outgoing letters, including a
report from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that was sent by vice
presidential Secretary Bambang Kesowo.

In the afternoon she politely rejected a number of Cabinet
members who wanted to see her, saying that she had not fully
recovered from her bout of flu.

"Ibu said she wanted to rest, and told her adjutants that she
did not want to receive even a telephone call," said one
official.

According to aides, Megawati watched the session unaccompanied
by any political or party aide.

Officially the Vice President is recuperating after suffering
from the flu on Thursday. (prb/byg)