Countdown begins to MPR sessions

Countdown begins to MPR sessions

One month from today, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
will open its General Session in Jakarta, its members invested
with the imposing task of charting the nation's course for the
next five years. The media has been abuzz with speculation about
the event, gnawing on questions of presidential and vice
presidential elections, and the drafting of the State Policy
Guidelines. Yet the public seems removed from this intense
anticipation. The Jakarta Post team Ahmad Junaidi, Arief
Suhardiman, Ati Nurbaiti, Benget Simbolon, Emmy Fitri, Kornelius
Purba and Riyadi seek out the meaning of the Assembly in this
article, and related stories on Page 8.

JAKARTA (JP): As the MPR working committees wound up meetings
last week to finalize drafts of documents which the Assembly
would endorse in March, a nagging question played on the minds of
many onlookers.

How effective would the general session be in solving the
economic crisis?

It is a valid query because, according to media coverage, the
committees virtually ignored issues related to the crisis in
finalizing the March agenda.

Such reports inevitably breed public skepticism and doubt.

A senior high school teacher in nearby Tangerang characterized
the MPR with brimming cynicism.

"Does the Assembly pay any attention to the misery people like
us have to face?" asked 46-year-old Taher (not his real name).

"Will it seriously push the government to help the poor
weather this crisis?"

The instructor in Pancasila ideology said people had more
pressing concerns to think about than the General Session.

"Like me, most people are much more interested in how the
government intends to stem the rising prices of goods."

The working committees have finalized the Guidelines of State
Policy (GBHN), a blueprint for the government for the 1998/2003
period, and a host of decrees.

The latter includes one that would allow for utilization of
extraordinary presidential powers in times of crisis.

Another item on the March agenda -- the election of the
president -- is now almost a foregone conclusion.

Soeharto, the incumbent President, accepted last month the
proposal by the powerful coalition of the military, bureaucracy
and Golkar to remain at the nation's helm for a seventh five-year
term.

With most issues settled even before the 1,000 MPR members
check in to their hotel rooms later this month, the general
session will basically amount to a banging of gavels as the
parade of items is approved.

The only pending issue is the election of a vice president, by
convention a prerogative of the elected president. This could
provide the lone highlight of the event.

Like Taher, many members of the public are unconvinced by both
the abilities of the MPR members and the function of the
Assembly.

Few believe it is the democratically run institution set out
in the 1945 Constitution, Taher said.

"Many people know the sessions in the past were the results of
political engineering by the dominant factions," he said.

Leo, an employee of a telecommunications consultancy company,
voiced similar misgivings, but demanded that members "should try
much harder" in this time of crisis.

Other members of the public merely wished for peaceful MPR
proceedings, fearing that any disturbance would lead to more
price hikes.

Business leaders are more aware of the importance of the MPR
session, but their chief concern also lies with the economy.

"The candidate for the vice president should be capable, not
only in maintaining stability and unity, but also in helping the
president restore the economy to normalcy," said Iman Taufik, a
leading executive in the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and
Trade.

Iman said the GBHN were too lofty. "I fear they would meet the
same fate as past GBHNs -- good on paper but poor in
implementation."

The final draft of the GBHN will center around the framework
provided by Golkar.

A call for public input for the discussion was ignored, an
expert said, adding it was effectively dead on arrival due to
public apathy.

"Apathy will increase if the MPR remains what it is," said
Surabaya-based sociologist Hotman Siahaan. "Who would want to
participate? They know the President will be reelected, so they
feel they have nothing more to add."

Hotman said members of the public had fewer expectations of
the Assembly and its representatives than of the government,
although at times they still distrusted the latter.

The working committees, which began debating the drafts in
November, did face unusually strong calls from both inside and
outside the body than in the past.

The minority United Development Party (PPP) and Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) forged an alliance to push for electoral
reforms, as they had done in the past.

But their efforts were virtually steamrolled by the powerful
coalition of Golkar, the Armed Forces and the regional
representatives factions.

The assembly also confronted louder demands for political
reforms from the outside, including political scholars and
researchers, students and leading public figures.

Reformists argued that the economic crisis had turned into one
of confidence, and then into a political crisis, which could only
be solved through sweeping political reform.

In an unprecedented move, some even called for change in the
national leadership.

Golkar, while careful not to dismiss outright these
sentiments, insisted the dominant faction advocated gradual and
peaceful change.

Political analyst Maswadi Rauf said the system made it
impossible to expect much initiative for reform from the MPR
itself.

"Every time there is a call for change, it comes up against
rejection," Maswadi said.

He agreed that MPR members should display greater sensitivity
toward the aspirations of the people in order to bolster their
interest in politics.

"They should be more sensitive if people are not to remain
indifferent," Maswadi said.