Hari replaces Syarwan as House deputy speaker

Hari replaces Syarwan as House deputy speaker

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction in
the House of Representatives Hari Sabarno assumed his new post as
House deputy speaker yesterday, replacing Lt. Gen. (ret) Syarwan
Hamid who was recently appointed Minister of Home Affairs.

In a plenary House session presided over by House Speaker
Harmoko, Hari took his oath before Chief Justice Sarwata.

It was not immediately clear yesterday who would take over the
post vacated by Hari. Replacements for a number of Golkar
legislators who resigned under pressure because their
appointments were considered "nepotistic" have also yet to be
announced.

Among those who resigned their legislative posts -- which
critics said they would not have obtained without familial or
political connections -- were Syarwan's wife, Harmoko's wife, and
the daughter and spouse of Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto.

Yesterday, Harmoko, who is also Golkar chairman, calmly
responded to journalists' queries about what would happen now
that one of Golkar's strongest allies, MKGR, had deserted it and
formed a new political party. Another ally of Golkar, Kosgoro,
had stated it was considering the same move.

"It's their rights. But Golkar is a grouping of cadres, whose
members are 36 millions individuals, not mass organizations or
allied groupings," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

MKGR is led by Mien Soegandhi, a former minister of women's
roles, who has earlier claimed that the new party would attract
about 25 million supporters across the country.

"Go ahead and form new parties. Golkar will continue to
exist," Harmoko said, adding that he did not feel as if the
grouping was "deflated" by its dissenting allies.

In Yogyakarta, however, political scientist Ichlasul Amal
expressed belief that Golkar, which has been dominating
Indonesian politics since early 1970s, was unraveling and would
not be able to win the general elections now being planned by
President B.J. Habibie's administration.

Golkar was now weakened because it had been too dependent on
the figures in its board of patrons, including chief patron
former president Soeharto, Amal said.

"Golkar was never able to elect a chairman (on its own), much
less elect a president through the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR)," Amal said. "Now that Pak Harto has resigned, all of
Golkar's infrastructures are gone too."

Changes

Changes were also introduced to the House Commissions
yesterday to bring them into line with the new cabinet. The
commissions now stand as follows.

* Commission I for defense and security, foreign affairs,
information, and legal affairs.

* Commission II for home affairs. It will work with, among
others, the State Secretariat and the National Land Agency.

* Commission III for agriculture, forestry and plantations,
transmigration, food and horticulture, and logistics.

* Commission IV for public works, culture and tourism, public
housing, telecommunications, and the National Aviation Agency.

* Commission V for trade and industry, manpower, cooperatives,
investment, environment, national standardization agency.

* Commission VI for health, women's roles, social services,
and family planning.

* Commission VII for education, religious affairs, sports,
research and technology. It will cooperate with, among others,
the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology and
the National Institute of Sciences.

* Commission VIII for finance, state administrative reforms,
national development planning, state companies, Bank Indonesia,
Central Bureau of Statistics, and all state ministers office.
(44/aan)