House set to call for special session

House set to call for special session

JAKARTA (JP): Barring last minute backroom deals, the House of
Representatives, in its plenary session on Wednesday, looks set
to call for a special session of the People's Consultative
Assembly, which could spell the end of the Abdurrahman Wahid
administration.

Ignoring a possible rally of Abdurrahman's supporters, which
is expected to descend when the House convenes, most factions
have publicly stated that they will go ahead with plans to call
for a special session.

The House plenary session will also be held under the
lingering threat of a state of emergency that Abdurrahman has
threatened to impose.

Private meetings between politicians continued into the night
on Tuesday suggesting efforts might be on hand to either
reinforce the intention to call a special session or a possible
deal to avoid it.

Publicly, House factions were adamant that there could only be
one conclusion as they felt the President had failed to
"positively respond" to the second memorandum of censure.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
secretary-general Soetjipto, the biggest faction with 153 seats
in the 500-member House, affirmed the party's stance to call a
special session of the Assembly to ask for the President's
accountability.

"This is our faction's political stance, which all members are
obliged to comply with, and it is final," he told journalists.

When asked whether the special session will be aimed at
impeaching the President, Soetjipto remarked that PDI Perjuangan
would accept the Assembly's decision in the plenary session.

"We do not have any intention to impeach the President...if
most factions accept the President's accountability there will be
no problem. But if most factions turn it down, there will be a
serious problem," he remarked.

Soetjipto further implied that at this late stage it would be
difficult to reach a political compromise.

The Golkar Party, the second major faction with 120 seats,
also said an Assembly special session to ask for the President's
accountability was probably inevitable.

"The party's central executive board decided last night to
follow up the second memorandum with a special session to ask for
the President's accountability," Syamsul Muarif, chairman of the
Golkar faction, said.

The United Development Party (PPP) and Reform factions said
separately that they would also remain consistent with their
previous stance on the proposed special session.

Ali Marwan Hanan, chairman of the PPP faction, said his
faction had drafted a 12-page account to be presented at the
plenary session with the ultimate call for a special session and
a presidential accountability.

The 38-member Indonesian Military/National Police faction, who
abstained during the previous vote on the second memorandum,
remained vague on how it would sway.

"We will accept what the House will decide in the plenary
session," the faction's chairman, Lt. Gen. Budhi Harsono, said.

Many expect the faction to abstain again if a vote is called.

Reply

With less than 24 hours to go before the House convenes the
all important session, Coordinating Minister for Political,
Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with
House and Assembly leaders on Tuesday.

Officially, the meeting was meant to give legislators an
update on the President's executive orders instructing Susilo to
anticipate possible security disturbances.

Susilo, who was accompanied by Indonesian Military Commander
Admiral Widodo A.S. and National Police chief Gen. Suroyo
Bimantoro, said that they had discussed ways to seek a peaceful
solution without excessive impact to the political, social and
security fields.

"We want the House to make a decision (in the plenary session)
that has no excessive impacts on law and order," he said.

"We are happy because all sides in the meeting have (stated) a
strong commitment to maintaining a situation so that the
political process will proceed accordingly," he said.

In the meeting with the House leadership, Susilo also handed
over to House Speaker Akbar Tandjung two documents representing
the President's response to the second censure.

The President did not directly respond to the censure and had
instead chosen to hand in documents of the political and economic
policies taken by his administration as proof of his commitment
to the process.

The results of the Attorney General's Office's investigation
into the Bulog and Brunei scandals, which cleared the President
of wrongdoing, was also handed over.

It was the House's investigations into these scandals that
initially launched the censure process earlier this year.

Akbar said House and faction leaders appreciated Susilo's
explanation about the President's executive order to him.

"We are all glad with Susilo's explanation and both sides are
committed to avoiding airing harsh statements to help calm down
the heated political situation, especially after the plenary
session," he said.

Asked about the two documents, Akbar said copies of the
documents would be distributed to all factions to be taken into
consideration in Wednesday's plenary session.

Assembly speaker Amien Rais welcomed the meeting with Susilo,
saying both sides shared the same vision.

"We are brothers and, therefore, all sides should put all
problems on their respective shoulders and work hand-in-hand to
solve them. If one side is sick the other also suffers," he said.
(rms/dja)