House factions turn down President's proposal

JAKARTA (JP): A last-ditch move to reach a compromise between squabbling members of the political elite has failed as major factions at the House of Representatives turned down on Saturday President Abdurrahman Wahid's proposal to transfer presidential power to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

A meeting of top House legislators hosted by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction chairman Arifin Panigoro at his residence on Saturday resulted in a unanimous decision to proceed with the impeachment process of the President.

In their plenary session next Wednesday, the House members are expected to call for a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) special session to impeach the President on the grounds that he failed to heed two motions of censure against him.

Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party (PKB) faction was not represented in Saturday's informal gathering, the second in as many days hosted by oil baron Arifin.

Arifin told a post-meeting joint media conference that his faction rejected the President's offer, saying the way he put pressure on Megawati to accept the proposal was in violation of the Constitution.

"The President has a problem not with the Vice President but with the House," Arifin said.

Abdurrahman, whose relations with Megawati have been visibly deteriorating, said on Saturday that acceptance of his proposal would prevent both an MPR special session to impeach him and the imposition of a state of emergency, which would enable him to dissolve the House.

Golkar faction chairman Syamsul Muarif said his faction supported the MPR special session as a forum to seek a peaceful solution to the current political crisis.

"Settlement of the political crisis should take place in a (MPR) special session. The President is a strange personality because he is prone to making contradictory statements from one day to another," he said.

Syamsul said Golkar executive board also held a meeting earlier in the day in which the party opposed the power- delegation proposal and the possible imposition of a state of emergency through a presidential decree.

"Our party will call for a hastened MPR special session to impeach the President if the decree is issued. There is no adequate reason for him to enact such a decree," he said.

United Development Party faction chairman Ali Marwan Hanan said that his faction would not drop its call for an Assembly special session to hear the President's accountability speech.

"The political crisis will continue as long as Gus Dur holds power," he said.

Hatta Radjasa of the Reform faction said the President's erratic leadership and his failure to positively respond to the House's two memoranda of censure were adequate grounds to show him the door.

"To our faction, it is better for Gus Dur to step down voluntarily rather than be impeached now that an Assembly special session looks inevitable," Hatta said, referring to the President by nickname.

Moderate

Later in the day after a meeting attended by the President, the PKB called on Megawati to reconsider the power-transfer proposal which it considered the most moderate way to end the political crisis.

Abdul Kholiq Achmad said the proposal was aimed at avoiding two possible extreme consequences of the President's impeachment, namely widespread chaos and dissolution of the House.

"PKB is of the opinion that if a special session takes place, the House will have mistakenly adopted the parliamentary system and it would be valid if the President dissolves the House for the constitutional violation," he said.

He said the PKB had opposed the power-transfer proposal on principal, but could understand it given the worsening political crisis.

Separately, Lt. Gen. Budhi Harsono, chairman of the Indonesian Military/National Police faction, reiterated that the faction would stay out of the conflict between the President and civilian politicians and would fight only for national interests.

"The military will consistently oppose both the declaration of a state of emergency and House dissolution. Our faction will unveil our political stance in the last minutes prior to the May 30 plenary session," he said.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said he had made necessary preparations for Wednesday's plenary session, including coordinating with the city security authorities.

"A draft of an official request to the MPR for a special session has been drawn up in anticipation of the House's disapproval of the President's leadership," he said after a House leadership meeting.

He said further that the plenary meeting could be moved forward if the President abruptly declared a state of emergency. (rms)