Harmoko praises outgoing Golkar legislators

Harmoko praises outgoing Golkar legislators

JAKARTA (JP): Golkar chairman Harmoko praised the political
organization's legislators in the House of Representatives for
doing their best during their five-year term which will expire on
Sept. 30.

Harmoko said after attending a farewell gathering for outgoing
Golkar legislators that they had exercised their full function to
channel public aspirations.

"As a team, they've served Golkar's executive board... very
well," Harmoko said.

"Their commendable performance is quite obvious in the way
they've influenced the government to accommodate public interests
during the deliberation of bills," he added.

Only about 40 percent of 279 Golkar legislators will keep
their post after Oct. 1, when President Soeharto is expected to
install the new members of the 500-strong House of
Representatives.

Golkar's faction in the new House, which will be represented
by a record 325 seats, will be dominated by new faces.

Harmoko himself will be among Golkar debutants in the House.
He has been tipped to become the next House speaker replacing
Wahono.

He vowed that incoming legislators would improve or at least
maintain their predecessors' performance.

"New legislators and reelected ones are expected to share the
same view on all matters," Harmoko was quoted by Antara as
saying.

Golkar will hold an internal orientation program to help its
legislators attune their views.

An outspoken critic of Harmoko and outgoing Golkar legislator,
Mangisara Marcos Lubis, failed to turn up for yesterday's
gathering.

Mangisara blamed Harmoko in a House session with Minister of
Information R. Hartono for the second deliberation of the
broadcasting bill. For that reason, he said Harmoko did not
deserve the House speaker position.

Harmoko, who was minister of information when the bill was
deliberated the first time, said the "incident" had been settled
by Golkar.

He refused to comment on possible disciplinary measures to be
imposed on the defiant legislator.

Separately, chairman of Golkar faction in the House, Moestahid
Astari, said Mangisara was not present due to the faction's
preparations for the House plenary session to endorse the
broadcasting bill today.

"His (Mangisara's) absence here does not have anything to do
with his criticisms. I've told the executive board that he's
concentrating on the final preparation of the bill's
endorsement," Moestahid said.

He admitted, however, that to some extent, he had failed to
exercise control mechanisms to prevent faction members from going
off track.

"We've improved our mechanisms, but the problem deals with
human resources. I cannot treat my friends as employees," he
said. (amd)