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)