House wraps up debate on bills until Jan. 25

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives ended its deliberations of the political bills on Friday for the beginning of the week-long Idul Fitri holiday, practically closing the door on any new attempts to change the outcome of the bills.

The House will resume talks on Monday, Jan. 25, with an open session where its 87-member Special Committee is scheduled to hear reports from the three working groups tasked with discussing the details of the bills.

House factions will then be given two days to prepare their final statements for the Jan. 28 plenary session to pass the bills onto President B.J. Habibie to sign into laws.

However, as of Friday, House factions were still stalemated over issues such as the political role of civil servants, as factions refused to budge from their respective stances. The government, however, has "guaranteed" there will be a solution to the deadlock by Jan. 28.

Other questions remaining unsolved are the number of nonelected House seats to be allocated for the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the composition of the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly, which presently consists of House members, delegates from provinces and delegates from social groups.

Golkar legislator Abu Hasan Sazili, who chairs the Special Committee, said it was still possible to break the impasse before Jan. 25.

"Despite the holiday, informal talks between faction leaders can still continue," Sazili said. "We are sure we can find a solution."

Under the country's current political system, any solutions to the present stalemate must come from the top leaders of the House factions -- ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, Indonesian Democratic Party chairman Budi Hardjono, United Development Party chairman Hamzah Haz and Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, who represents the government.

Golkar legislator Aminullah Ibrahim, who is chairing the deliberations of the electoral bill, told journalists on Friday that "if those above insist, then we as troopers down here will just plow ahead (with our stances)."

Asked to comment about the stalemate, political observer Rusdi Muchtar of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said, "Faction leaders and the government must show flexibility."

Rusdi warned of consequences as dire as national disintegration if the House failed to pass bills which were democratic.

According to Rusdi, the ABRI faction must take the initiative if it wants to show that its presence in the House means anything at all. (aan)