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)