Gus Dur to survive MPR Annual Session

Gus Dur to survive MPR Annual Session

President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien
Rais and House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung
agreed on Tuesday to ease political tension and renewed their
commitment to the reform movement. Political science lecturer
Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia discusses the impact of
these pledges on the political environment.

Question: Will the recent meeting of top politicians in
Yogyakarta hosted by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X help ease the
tension between the President and legislators?

Arbi: The meeting was just a preliminary step toward political
reconciliation. It will be useless and result in nothing if it
ends with itself, without any follow-up steps. If it is not
followed up with routine meetings with clear and concrete
agendas, that will mean the politicians are deceiving society by
pretending to cooperate when they actually aren't.

Q: Is it still possible for the legislators to change next week's
Annual Session of the MPR into an extraordinary meeting where
they can impeach the President?

A: It constitutionally cannot be turned into an extraordinary
meeting. Furthermore, the session is filled with scheduled
programs.

Q: But a number of MPR members are still trying to amend an MPR
decision in order to allow the Assembly to vote on the
President's annual progress report and then turn the Annual
Session into an extraordinary one. Do you think they will be
successful?

A: No. Their procedure of proposing the amendment was against the
rules. If they insist on proposing the amendment by repeating
this procedure, the time is too limited. So the MPR will have no
grounds to turn next week's meeting into an extraordinary session
to impeach the President.

Q: Looking at their critical arguments against the President, do
you see the legislators struggling for the interests of the
nation as a whole or their parties only?

A: They are just working for the sake of their parties or even
for their own individual interests. Their recent exploitation of
the DPR's interpellation right to question the President about
his reason for dismissing two of his ministers (state minister of
investment and state enterprises development Laksamana Sukardi of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and minister of
industry and trade Yusuf Kalla of the Golkar Party) is a good
example of legislators working for their own parties. The
recruitment and dismissal of ministers is not of interest to the
general public.

Meanwhile, many of the legislators criticized the President
merely due to the disappointment they felt over the fact they
supported Abdurrahman's bid for the presidency, but in return he
did not reciprocate by giving them governmental positions in his
administration. They, therefore, actually do not deserve to
politically represent the public. Such legislators have become
members of the DPR and/or MPR merely because of the charisma of
PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri or Golkar chief
Akbar Tandjung.

Q: What do you think are the main objectives of those legislators
criticizing the President?

A: For those from PDI Perjuangan, particularly junior legislators
who graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology, the main
objective is "to give a strong lesson" to Abdurrahman. Promoting
Megawati for president is just a secondary aim for them.
Meanwhile, Golkar legislators just want to expose the weaknesses
of Abdurrahman in a bid to develop the impression they are acting
as "heroes" who are fighting against a "bandit".

Q: Are Golkar legislators, in hounding the administration of
Abdurrahman, trying to return their party to power?

A: Of course, yes. A characteristic of Akbar is that he always
pretends to be reluctant to take a higher political position, but
as soon as there is an opportunity he grabs it. Golkar probably
has a scenario of pushing Megawati for president and Akbar for
vice president.

Q: What do you think of Golkar's plan to act as an opposition
party?

A: That is a confusing plan. How can Golkar become an opposition
party while it does not want to withdraw its members from
Abdurrahman's Cabinet? Golkar is surely afraid of losing its
advantages if it pulls its members out of the Cabinet. Moreover,
Golkar needs to remain in the Cabinet to protect its officials
(who were allegedly involved in abuses during the New Order
administration of former president Soeharto). We, therefore, can
understand if Attorney General Marzuki Darusman (of Golkar) slows
down the legal process of several (corruption) cases.

So Golkar prefers to stay in the Cabinet to accomplish two
purposes at once -- to protect its members and for "hunting"
opportunities. Golkar will only become an opposition party if the
President takes the initiative and establishes a new Cabinet that
excludes Golkar.

Q: Do you think the recent killings of Muslim activists are
related to next week's MPR session?

A: The killings seem to be aimed at provoking Muslim society, so
it will become angry with non-Muslims. If people from the two
sides become involved in clashes that result in anarchy, the
economy would be jeopardized and the government weakened. This
would make pro-status-quo parties feel safe and, if possible,
they would seek a return to power.

Q: What do you think the future holds for Abdurrahman and his
administration?

A: He will survive any problems that will be raised at next
week's MPR session. His fate afterward will be influenced by the
follow-up to this week's meeting of leading politicians, the
follow-up to the recent interpellation motion by DPR members on
the dismissal of two ministers and the plan by DPR members to
probe the alleged embezzlement of Rp 35 billion (US$3.9 million)
from the State Logistics Agency. (Rikza Abdullah)