House to question President over his Cabinet reshuffle

House to question President over his Cabinet reshuffle

JAKARTA (JP): House of Representatives legislators are
planning to grill President Abdurrahman Wahid over his latest
Cabinet shake-up when they meet with him for a regular
consultation on Thursday.

Speaking after a leadership meeting, House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung said the leaders of the legislative body believed the
reasons for the replacement of Laksamana Sukardi and Yusuf Kalla
as state minister of investment and state enterprises development
and minister of trade and industry remained unclear.

"It is feared the replacements will disturb the political
atmosphere and the economic recovery," Akbar said.

He said the House would urge Gus Dur, as the President is
popularly called, not to take any steps that could hamper the
ongoing economic recovery program.

In his capacity as chairman of the Golkar Party, Akbar
regretted the replacement of Golkar cadre Kalla,saying that he
had worked hard to jack up Indonesian exports.

He accused Gus Dur of violating the commitment he made when
forming the Cabinet in October last year.

Golkar would not have objected to the reshuffle if the
President had appointed the ministers himself, he said.

"Gus Dur should respect his commitment. The replacements did
not respect political ethics," he said.

Akbar said party executives met on Tuesday night to discuss a
plan to demand the President give a thorough explanation of the
reshuffle.

"However we will not withdraw our cadres from the Cabinet,"
Akbar said.

There are currently three Golkar members serving as ministers
in the Cabinet: manpower minister Bomer Pasaribu, sport and youth
affairs minister Mahadi Sinambela and Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman.

Akbar also admitted he had met with Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Secretary-General Sutjipto at
the Hilton Hotel later on Tuesday evening to share ideas on the
reshuffle.

"Both of us viewed the replacement of the two ministers as
lacking in a strong reason," he said.

Akbar denied that Golkar and PDI Perjuangan would join forces
and become an opposition force.

He also dismissed speculation blaming the Cabinet's poor
performance on the fact that its ministers come from various
political parties.

"Although they (the ministers) come from different political
parties, I know that they work hard to support the President," he
said.

Besides the Cabinet reshuffle, Akbar said that the
consultative meeting, which will start at 9:30 a.m, would discuss
the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree No. 25/1966
which bans the propagation of communism in the country.

"We will tell Gus Dur that the majority of the public have
rejected his intention to revoke the decree," he said.

The President has repeatedly stated his wish to revoke the
decree, which he said violates the principles of democracy and
human rights.

His statements on communism have sparked protests across the
country and prompted calls by some political figures for a
special session of the Assembly to oust him. (jun)