History's lesson

For those with a feeling for humor there may be something comical in the confrontation currently taking place between President Abdurrahman Wahid and the House of Representatives' special committee investigating the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

As far as most Indonesians are concerned, though, the stand- off has lasted much too long. The question that many Indonesians are asking themselves is what can be the matter with the President to cause him to repeatedly avoid clarification of the scandals that, according to common sense, need to be publicly explained?

On the other hand, what political interests can the House of Representatives and its factions have by constantly hammering at these two scandals while other -- and bigger -- scandals such as those involving the country's banking system are waiting to be investigated?

In the meantime, while the President and the legislature are bickering in the House and in the media, the Indonesian people are left to suffer the daily difficulties of making ends meet -- salaries being worth only a fraction of what they were before the crash of the rupiah and the ensuing economic crisis.

In the latest episode of the spat between the President and the House, President Abdurrahman Wahid abruptly left a meeting that had been prearranged at the President's insistence to take place at a "neutral" venue outside the presidential palace or the House.

The committee was seeking to question the President about a withdrawal of Rp 35 billion (US$3 million) from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) by his masseur and also a $2 million donation from the Sultan of Brunei, which the President says was a personal gift. The Jakarta Convention Center was chosen as a suitable venue for the event. But Abdurrahman's sudden walkout has left the legislators dumbfounded.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has consistently denied the legality of the committee since it has not been registered at the State Secretariat, as required by a law dating from 1954. To explain his seemingly impulsive action, Abdurrahman later called a press conference to explain the incident as he saw it.

"I left after it was clear that the committee could not give an answer (to whether the meeting was a political or a legal forum)," the President explained.

The scandals should be settled in a court of law rather than by a legislative committee, the President said, accusing members of the committee of using the scandals to undermine the authority of the government and the office of the president. "So, what is happening here is character assassination."

The question of whether the House's special committee has the authority to question the President on legal matters is indeed a valid point of argument. Some legal experts agree that a court would be the most appropriate institution to settle the matter. In fact, a Central Jakarta court is currently examining the case.

In the meantime, the constant bickering between the President and the House is keeping the nation as well as investors in a state of uncertainty and some businesses are reported to be considering taking their investments elsewhere.

The time is over due for the President and the legislature to realize the damage that their constant quarreling is causing the nation. Democratic reform is impossible in a climate of instability. At present, it seems that the nation has returned to where it was in the 1950s, when political squabbles finally led to the emergence of, first, an authoritarian regime and eventually to the military dominated New Order regime of President Soeharto.

It seems that unless Indonesians are willing to learn from history, history may well repeat itself.