House Speaker inaugurates new legislators
JAKARTA (JP): House Speaker Wahono reasserted yesterday the supervisory role of the legislative body, saying that no government policies should be made without its support.
The government should not spend a single rupiah of tax payers' money on development projects without the prior consent of the House of Representatives, he said.
"This is only natural because the money comes from the people" he said during a ceremony at which he swore in 26 new members of the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly.
Wahono stressed that all government policies on development were subject to scrutiny by the legislative body as required, he said, by the Constitution.
"There is no reason to assume that the House means to simply find fault when it asks the government for details of certain policies," Wahono said.
House members have frequently complained in the past that the government has failed to consult with it before the bureaucracy has issued policies that have major impact on the public, such as raising highway tolls.
Very recently, legislators were outraged at not being consulted before State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman announced that the government would raise funds from the public through a savings scheme with prizes next year. The future of the plan is currently in doubt because of protests from the public and legislators.
Twenty-one of the 26 new House and Consultative Assembly members installed yesterday were representatives of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI). Under Indonesian law, every House member is automatically an Assembly member.
The 26 replaced representatives who were either rotated or dismissed by the organizations they represent.
Among the prominent new appointees to the legislative body was Hadimulyo of the United Development Party. He replaced the outspoken Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who lost his seat for criticizing several cabinet ministers at hearings and for questioning the state ideology, Pancasila.
Bintang is facing prosecution on charges of insulting President Soeharto by taking part in one of a number of demonstrations against the Indonesian government in Germany in April.
No one was sworn in yesterday to replace another outspoken legislator, Bambang Warih Kusumo of the ruling Golkar party. Like Bintang, Bambang was fired this year by his organization for allegedly insulting cabinet ministers and for deviating from his party's official line.
Four of the new faces are regional representatives from East Java -- Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo and Maj. Gen. Roesmanhadi -- and East Timor -- Armindo Soares and Col. Kiki Syahnakri.
Among the new House and Consultative Assembly members are prominent ABRI personnel: Maj. Gen. Theo Syafei, a former East Timor military commander and Maj. Gen. Hari Sabarno, former assistant to the ABRI chief of socio-political affairs.
Wahono, a retired lieutenant general and former Golkar boss, said that the ABRI representation in the House was under public scrutiny and, therefore, the members should work hard to maintain the military's good name.
In order not to tarnish ABRI's image, the legislators should stick to the Constitution, he said, and put the public interest before their own. (pan)