Government says no plans to expedite MPR session

Government says no plans to expedite MPR session

JAKARTA (JP): The government on Friday poured cold water on
suggestions to bring forward the General Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR).

After consulting with President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka
Palace, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid told journalists
that there were no plans to advance the General Session from its
original schedule.

"After consultations, we did not come up with a new plan. We
shall continue with the schedule as agreed with the General
Elections Commission," Syarwan said.

The first phase of the General Session, the swearing in of
members of the Assembly and House of Representatives (DPR) will
be held on Oct. 1, with proceeding sessions, including that to
elect a new president, expected in November.

Several prominent politicians, including Golkar's outspoken
Marzuki Darusman, recently suggested the scheduling of the
General Session be accelerated so a new president with
unquestioned legitimacy could be elected.

In a related development, Syarwan also disclosed that the five
seats in the Assembly allotted to regional representatives from
East Timor would be terminated given that the civilian
administration is no longer functioning.

"So the number of regional representatives would be reduced by
five," he said.

Regional representatives were to fill 135 seats, five for each
province, in the 700-member Assembly.

However, according to Syarwan, the four elected legislators
for East Timor in the House would still be sworn in.

Habibie

In a related development, a senior party official said on
Thursday that the ruling Golkar party will look again at whether
to support the election of beleaguered President B.J. Habibie,

Habibie, backed by Golkar for the post earlier this year, has
come under fire for a domestic banking scandal and the calamity
in East Timor, and many analysts have written off his chances in
November's presidential election.

Golkar deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman told The Jakarta Post
by phone that a meeting of the party's executives on Monday night
had decided to review Habibie's chances of winning.

"The final evaluation will be made in a meeting that will take
place sometime around Oct. 15," he said.

Marzuki, on the reform wing of the party and widely seen as
opposed to Habibie's nomination, said the President's chances
would hinge on the outcome of the Bank Bali scandal, the furor
over East Timor and the drawn-out investigation into former
president Soeharto's alleged corruption.

"If the evaluation of Habibie's performance is generally
unsatisfactory, the possibility looks good for Golkar to drop his
candidacy," Marzuki said.

Earlier in the day in Bandung, Marzuki said that Golkar, whose
winning streak in six consecutive general elections was broken by
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle last June, had been
trying to help Habibie fix his failing image.

Indonesia has come under tremendous international and domestic
pressure over the alleged military-backed brutality in East
Timor, where international troops are now being deployed to bring
peace to the former Portuguese colony.

Habibie has also been linked to the controversy surrounding a
large fee paid by Bank Bali to a company headed by a senior
Golkar official apparently for help in collecting outstanding
loans.

Opposition politicians allege the money was earmarked for
Habibie's presidential campaign. He denies the charge.

Marzuki said Golkar had yet to name a prospective substitute
for Habibie. "Our position now is to stick to the party decision
to nominate Habibie," he said.

When asked about the possibility of naming Indonesian Military
(TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, Marzuki said such a choice remained
wide open.

"Frankly speaking, Pak Wiranto has no chance. But if we find
no alternative but him, we won't hesitate to support him,"
Marzuki said.

Meanwhile, Wiranto denied reports that he would step down next
month as military chief to run for president.

"It is only a rumor and it is not an official statement,"
Wiranto told reporters after speaking at a political discussion
here.

Wiranto was responding to a report in Singapore's Straits
Times newspaper that said he would resign so he could join the
presidential race.

The newspaper said in a report from its Jakarta correspondent
that Wiranto would give up operational command of the military to
current deputy chief Admiral Widodo A.S. in order to pave the way
for the ruling Golkar party to name the military leader as its
new presidential candidate. (05/33/43/prb)