Gus Dur, Mega discuss security

Gus Dur, Mega discuss security

JAKARTA (JP): Top state officials met here on Wednesday to
discuss security ahead of the April 30 House of Representatives
(DPR) plenary session, which will decide whether to issue the
second memorandum of censure against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The meeting took place as hundreds of members of the ready-to-
die force in East Java were defying police orders to discontinue
"war-training" to defend Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur.

"The meeting was to discuss the general security situation
ahead of (the DPR plenary session) on April 30," presidential
spokesman Wimar Witoelar said.

"The fact is there has been no violence (so far) and efforts
will be taken to prevent any. No one has any interest in
conflict."

Wimar was speaking after a luncheon at Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's official residence in Central Jakarta, which was
attended by the President, top military and police officials and
key Cabinet ministers.

Abdurrahman's supporters are expected to stream into Jakarta
on April 29 to join a mass prayer in support of the President.
Police have also asked the event's organizers, Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU), either to bring forward or delay the prayers for security
concerns.

Police in Jakarta have begun weapons checks at entry points to
the city in an attempt to prevent violence ahead of the crucial
plenary session.

Those arriving at bus terminals, train stations, harbors and
main roads would all be checked, a Jakarta police spokesman said
earlier in the week.

Jakarta police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman said on
Wednesday that around 10,000 police personnel would be deployed
to maintain security in the capital city on April 29. The number,
he said, could be increased to 18,000 on April 30.

Fears that the President's supporters would also descend upon
the DPR building on April 30 had prompted several legislators to
call on the House leaders to relocate the plenary session
outside the capital.

House speaker Akbar Tandjung flatly dismissed the suggestion
on Wednesday, saying that the House plenary session "will stay in
Jakarta".

"It did not even cross my mind to hold the plenary session
outside the DPR building, let alone outside the capital," Akbar,
who also chairs Golkar party, said.

He said that he had written a formal request for a security
guarantee to the city police.

Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X said earlier in the day
that his city was ready to host the DPR plenary session, should
House leaders decide to move it outside the capital.

The proposal to hold the plenary session outside Jakarta was
first mooted on Tuesday by Arifin Panigoro, leader of Megawati's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction at the DPR.

Speaking at the end of a two-day meeting between several
legislators critical of Abdurrahman on the resort island of Bali,
Arifin said the House plenary could be moved to the West Java
capital of Bandung.

He then claimed that at least seven House factions had agreed
to issue the second memorandum against Abdurrahman on April 30.

Akbar denied the suggestion, saying that no agreement had been
reached between the House factions on whether or not to issue the
second memorandum against the President.

He admitted, however, that the mood during the two-day talks
in Bali was "moving toward that direction (of issuing the second
memorandum)."

"There hasn't been any formal agreement, because the factions'
final stance will be decided by their respective leaders," Akbar
said.

He added that Golkar's final stand on the matter was being
drafted by an 11-member team. The draft, he said, would be
presented to the party's leaders on Monday.

If Abdurrahman's response to a second memorandum fails to
appease the legislators, a special session of the People's
Consultative Assembly could be convened by August to impeach him.

The House first rebuked the President on Feb. 1 over his
alleged involvement in two financial scandals. In his response,
Abdurrahman vowed stricter measures against corruption, including
a proposal to reverse the burden of proof for suspects in
corruption cases.

The United Development Party (PPP) legislator who attended the
Bali meeting, Bachtiar Chamsyah, said on Wednesday that the
informal talks also focused on how to build a clean and strong
government.

"The country is in a state of emergency, particularly from the
security point of view, due, among other things, to economic
hardship," said Bachtiar, who chaired the House special committee
investigating the financial scandals that implicated the
President.

He defended a plan to hand the President a second rebuke,
saying that no improvement in the security and economic fields
had been made since the first memorandum had been issued.

He said Abdurrahman's government in fact lacked legitimacy
because of economic and legal uncertainties. (byg)