Human rights activist says General Session extravagant

JAKARTA (JP): The ongoing General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly which will eat up almost Rp 45 billion (US$5 million) and put up its 1,000 members in lavish hotels is an extravagance, a leading human rights campaigner said yesterday.

Clementino dos Reis Amaral said now that the national economy was teetering on the brink of calamity, the budget for the 11-day meeting could have been trimmed.

"I think much of the state money is being wasted," he said when meeting with Assembly members from the Golkar faction to file a petition for Emil Salim's presidential candidacy.

Amaral was a Golkar House of Representatives member from the East Timor constituency from 1987 to 1993. Each House member is automatically an Assembly member.

The mammoth budget allocated for the Assembly congress, the success of which is a virtual certainty because almost all critical decisions have been completed, has been widely criticized.

Critics say that much of the money could have been used to make available essential commodities for the poor, who are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis.

Amaral questioned the wisdom behind the decision to house Assembly members in top hotels.

"Each House member has been provided with a luxury house in Kalibata (South Jakarta). Governors already have accommodation provided by the government. So what's the point of putting them in hotels?" he asked.

House/Assembly secretary-general Afif Ma'roef has said Assembly members are being put up in Hotel Indonesia, President Hotel, Sari Pan Pacific and Sahid Jaya hotels.

The Assembly, which critics say is a mere formality to legalize decisions already public knowledge, costs Rp 44.7 billion, almost twice that of the 1993 General Session's cost of Rp 24.3 billion.

Abu Hasan Sjadzili, an Assembly member from Golkar, and Buttu Hutapea from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) said Saturday that the congress was worth the money.

"The price of democracy is very high. It cannot be measured merely by money," Sjadzili was quoted as saying by Antara.

Sjadzili acknowledged that 90 percent of the crucial decisions, such as who would be the next president and vice president as well as what the State Policy Guidelines would be, had been made.

"A formal process and legitimation are still needed," he said.

Hutapea said he believed the Rp 45 billion was worth spending on the congress, which he called a "festivity of democracy", so that it could proceed smoothly.

He said, "although the winner of the elections are already known, the democratic festivity should take place as scheduled." (pan)