House accepts Gus Dur's date for interpellation

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to delay the closure of its in-session period to allow President Abdurrahman Wahid to reply to an interpellation motion on July 20.

The decision came after a two-hour debate in the House's consultative body presided over by House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno. The meeting was called after Abdurrahman told House Speaker Akbar Tandjung last week he could only appear before the House on July 20. The House had wanted the President to appear on July 13.

Soetardjo said the House would go to recess on July 24, three days later than originally scheduled.

"Gus Dur will come (to the House) on July 20 and the House will start its recess on July 24," Soetardjo said, referring to the President by his nickname.

Soetardjo denied the House moved back the start of its recess to accommodate Abdurrahman's schedule, saying there were many important issues to deliberate and it would be impossible to finish the process by July 21.

The remaining issues to be deliberated include the bill on tax regulations and the selection of Supreme Court justices, according to Soetardjo, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

"It is not because we want to conform with the President's schedule. We have a lot of things to discuss, many issues," he said.

The secretary of the PDI Perjuangan faction in the House, Heri Akhmadi, said the decision was not final because it required the House speaker's approval.

"The House speaker should negotiate with the President to turn up for the summons between July 15 and July 18 or so, but for the time being we can accept the July 20 schedule," Heri said.

He underlined that the change in the date of the recess was a result of the House's tight agenda.

A legislator from Golkar Party, Ade Komaruddin, said the House speaker would agree if legislators decided to go to recess before July 20, but so far all of the factions in the House supported this date.

A State Palace official said on Tuesday the President had arranged a visit to several regions in East Java and Central Java on July 13 and July 14, and a meeting with European ambassadors and the association of provincial governments on July 17.

"The presidential agenda was arranged long before (the House summons). Some of the visits were fixed three months, two months or a week ago, although sometimes the agenda is unplanned depending on the President's will," palace spokesman Wahyu Muryadi said.

He said the President had nothing on his agenda for July 20 other than appearing before the House.

However, Abdurrahman continued to come under criticism for his failure to comply with the House's schedule for the interpellation motion.

Surabaya-based political observer Aribowo said the President should respect the House's summons and make it his top priority.

"As a democrat, he (the President) must respect the summons," the Airlangga University lecturer said. "It's not that important to discuss the substance of the interpellation motion as the plan has in fact won support from the majority of the House," he said.

He also expected the President would not ask anybody to represent him at the House session.

Political communications observer Deddy Djamaludin Malik said Abdurrahman's request to the House to reschedule his appearance was just a show of force on the President's part.

He said the executive and the legislative branches were now engaged in a cold war. According to him, the President might feel uneasy with the House and the People's Consultative Assembly, which were trying to exercise their rights to control the President.

"In this way, Gus Dur should have agreed to meet with the House on July 13," he said.(nur/25/sur/dja)