House members split on date of plenary session

JAKARTA (JP): With the summit of the G-15 drawing nearer, the House of Representatives remains split on whether they will reschedule an all important plenary session which coincides with the head of states meeting.

The House is set to convene a plenary session to discuss the next step of the memorandum process against the President at the end of the month, while the G-15 summit has been penciled in for May 30-31.

House speaker Akbar Tandjung and the House Consultative Body (Bamus) remain at odds at whether the legislature should acquiesce to the government's appeal to postpone the hearings.

Akbar said he "understands" the need to delay the plenary session "for a couple of days."

We do not see any problem with that," Akbar remarked on Friday.

"We know that we have to host the important summit...We ask the government to send an official letter signed by the President so we can rearrange the schedule," Akbar remarked.

But the House's Consultative Body seemed to be less willing to bend.

During the body's meeting chaired by House deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa of the Reform faction on Thursday, May 30 was set as the date for the plenary session.

The plenary session could determine the fate of embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid as it could call on the People's Consultative Assembly to convene a special session.

The G-15 comprises Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

"I know that the Bamus meeting, led by one of the deputy speakers, has determined the date but they have yet to receive an official letter from the President. When we receive the letter we will consider resetting the schedule," Akbar said while adding that he had also informed the meeting of the possible clash of dates.

Fatwa, known to be a harsh critic of the President, later on Friday dismissed suggestions to reschedule the plenary session as an attempt to give the President more time to maneuver during his time of crisis.

"It is clearly stipulated that the President has only one month after the second censure and that falls exactly on May 30. So, according to regulation we have to convene the session on that date," Fatwa remarked.

An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Jakarta Post that a draft of the request letter had been submitted to the State Secretary for President Abdurrahman to sign.

"It had been decided in the last Cabinet meeting on Saturday that we will send the request letter signed by the President as soon as possible," the official said. (dja)