Golkar will not force its motions through MPR

JAKARTA (JP): The dominant Golkar faction dismissed yesterday fears that it would pressure minority factions into accepting its motions in People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) sessions.

Ginandjar Kartasasmita, chairman of the Golkar faction in the Assembly, said the party would maintain the country's tradition of consensus through deliberation, even though it stood head and shoulders above the other four factions.

"The fears, that we will step on other people's toes in order to make the Assembly endorse our proposed decrees, are groundless. We have proven this in previous general sessions."

He did not say which parties had expressed concern that Golkar could dominate the deliberation and decision making processes.

He was talking at a press briefing after a session in which Golkar leaders insisted that two minority factions -- United Development Party (PPP) and Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- adopt its draft state policy guidelines as the reference for drawing up 1998/2003 development plans.

The two minority factions also fielded their own draft guidelines.

Most of Golkar faction's top brass, including R. Hartono, Akbar Tandjung, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Bambang Trihatmodjo, were present at the briefing.

Ginandjar said Golkar would try to persuade the other factions to follow their line through informal means, such as lobbying.

Golkar has 488 representatives in the 1,000-strong Assembly following its landslide win in the May 29 general election.

Some cabinet ministers head the mighty faction.

But Ginandjar played down Golkar's favorable position in the Assembly, saying the majority faction and the minority factions had equal opportunities in the deliberations.

"We will only prove our majority is significant should the Assembly resort to voting to break a deadlock. But we have always tried to avoid this procedure," he said.

Golkar tabled six drafts of decrees at the opening of the Assembly's working committee session last week.

They included a draft of state policy guidelines, and a draft of a decree which would give the next president extra power to take preemptive measures to continue development programs.

"We dare to ask that our draft be adopted as the reference because it has already accommodated various interests," Hardiyanti earlier said.

The Armed Forces and regional representatives factions have pledged their support for Golkar's draft.

But both PPP and PDI went doggedly ahead with their campaigns for their own drafts, prompting a two-hour break for inter- faction lobbying.

Committee chairman Hartono closed the session without reaching a decision on which draft would be chosen.

PPP spokesman Muhammad Buang told the session: "We have equal right to have our draft adopted as the main part of the state policy guidelines."

PDI spokesman Soedarjanto told the session his faction wanted to reinstate the 1993/1998 state policy guidelines because they were "neutral".

"We'd better use the old draft, even if it is only because it has already been accepted by all the factions. It's also logical to reestablish the guidelines since the next five-year development plan is a follow-up of the previous one," he said.

In another session, Golkar insisted that a special decree be established to give the next president extra power, citing as a reason the series of riots that exploded recently and caused damage to development programs.

In Golkar's draft on the issue the president would exercise the extra power in a state of emergency, and he or she would be held accountable for the use of this power by the Assembly. (amd/imn)