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)