'Govt has no intention of influencing MPR'

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto asserted yesterday that the government has no intention of influencing the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which is the supreme holder of people's sovereignty.

As a person who received the mandate from the House to run the country, the President said he only wants to give inputs to assist the Assembly in its task to determine the direction and objective of the country for the next five years.

"The government has never intended to engineer the Broad Guidelines of State Policies (GBHN) for its own interest," Soeharto was quoted as saying by the secretary-general of the National Council for Security and Defense, Soekarto.

Soekarto met with Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office to report about a four-day meeting in Yogyakarta, organized by his office, to draft materials for the guidelines.

The 1,000-strong Assembly will hold its general assembly next March to elect a president and vice president and draw up the 1998/2003 guidelines.

The meeting will open today, and will be attended by 160 representatives of various parties, including the Armed Forces (ABRI), the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP), the dominant Golkar faction, the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and scholars from universities.

"Let there be no misperception that President Soeharto drafted the state guidelines," Soekarto said.

Soekarto maintained that the meeting would be democratic because all participants would be actively involved in drafting the guidelines.

"The President will not censor our guidelines but will hand them directly to the Assembly," he said.

The National Council for Security and Defense was commissioned by President Soeharto last year to draft the guidelines, which will be submitted to the Assembly.

The council also played a pivotal role in drafting the May 1997 general election campaign and election rules, which were regarded by some election contestants as restrictive.

MPR comprises 500 members of the House of Representatives, while the other 500 members are appointed representatives of various community groups.

Their membership must be approved by the President.

"Hopefully the draft will be useful as input for MPR," Soekarto quoted Soeharto as saying.

According to Soekarto, the draft will cover various issues including human rights, a development strategy and a concept to achieve national resilience.

"GBHN will only contain basic principles and will not touch operational programs," Soekarto said. (prb)