Full House, but still no end to dispute
Full House, but still no end to dispute
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
All 10 factions in the House of Representatives attended a
plenary meeting on Tuesday, but the enmity between the Nationhood
Coalition and the People's Coalition appeared far from subsiding.
Interruptions, banging fists on tables and shouting matches
marked the plenary meeting, the first legitimate House gathering
since the People's Coalition -- the United Development Party
(PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party,
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and several minor parties --
boycotted all House activities for the past two weeks.
The boycott has brought the House, which began the current
session on Oct. 1, to a virtual standstill.
People's Coalition members started interrupting the meeting
almost immediately after House Speaker Agung Laskono opened it
nearly an hour behind schedule at 2:50 p.m.
Members of the People's Coalition stood up when Agung from the
Golkar Party -- a member of the rival Nationhood Coalition --
asked the House Secretariat to read out letters received,
including one on the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander issue,
proposed by 55 legislators.
"Don't jump into a separate issue. We have to discuss the
agenda of today's plenary meeting," said Ignatius Mulyono from
the Democratic Party.
Aside from Golkar, the Nationhood Coalition comprises the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Reform Star
Party (PBR) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), with additional
support from the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Tuesday's plenary meeting had two agendas -- endorsing members
of 11 House commissions and five auxiliary bodies and reading a
recommendation from the House's defense commission on the
appointment of Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu as acting
military chief.
However, it has become customary for the House Secretariat to
read out incoming letters before the legislators discuss the main
agenda of a meeting.
The Secretariat had two letters -- one on a request to amend
the House's standing orders and the other on the legislators'
proposal to summon President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over his
decision to annul Megawati's letter, which appointed Ryamizard to
replace former TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, who had
resigned.
The People's Coalition, however, insisted that the meeting
move on to the two agendas without delay.
Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa of Golkar said it was normal for a
plenary meeting to hear the latest information from the House
Speaker.
"This is no problem ... because the proposal from the 55
legislators to summon the President is new information," he said,
adding that rival legislators had "no clear understanding of the
House's standing orders".
The statement instantly prompted more protests from the
People's Coalition, who heckled over the microphone system. Some
even approached the dais to make their point, putting security
guards on the alert.
After a noisy debate, the House agreed to read the names of
the members of its commission and auxiliary bodies and to amend
the House's standing order.
"The present leaders of commissions and auxiliary bodies will
continue their work, but the leadership may be reshuffled as soon
as the revision (of the standing order) is complete," Agung told
the press after presiding over the plenary meeting.
Meanwhile, Susilo hailed the new development in the House, and
ordered Cabinet ministers and other officials to respond
positively to any invitation from the lawmakers for a hearing.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
and State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A.
Djalil will be the first ministers to attend a House meeting, set
for Wednesday.
The president's instruction, however, does not apply to
Ryamizard if he is asked to appear at the House as part of the
process to select the new TNI commander.