Kalla under fire for rebuking Lemhannas
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators lashed out at Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday for reprimanding a state defense institute for criticizing the ongoing Aceh peace talks.
The legislators even claimed that the reprimand could endanger democracy.
An opposite opinion, however, came from a legislator of Kalla's Golkar Party, who said the rebuke was just common.
Kalla reprimanded National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Governor Ermaya Suradinata on Tuesday for urging a halt to the peace talks, which Kalla is promoting to end decades of conflict in Aceh. Ermaya expressed his opinion during a hearing with legislators on Monday.
Ermaya said Lemhanas deemed the talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been seeking independence since 1976, were unconstitutional and would only help GAM internationalize the issue.
Legislator Permadi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which sees itself as the opposition in the House, said Kalla's reprimand ran contrary to freedom of speech, which was a core principle of democracy.
"Kalla crossed the line. Lemhanas is an independent body despite the fact that it comes under the head of state, and Kalla shouldn't have made such an arbitrary statement. Different views are allowed," he said.
Permadi said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should warn his deputy to avoid any recurrence.
A similar sentiment was raised by Effendi Choirie from the National Awakening Party (PKB), who said that Lemhanas should be free from political intervention.
"Lemhanas is an independent body that studies various issues. If it gets reprimanded for holding dissenting views, its independence will be compromised. Others may become reluctant to voice different views if this kind of behavior is permitted," he said.
Effendi criticized Kalla's response to the Lemhanas governor's statements, adding that the President should be tougher with his aides.
"The President is the one responsible for the direction taken by the country. He should warn everyone, including the Vice President, if they act improperly," he said.
Shidki Wahab from President Susilo's Democrat Party said Kalla had acted "unethically" and was hindering democracy.
"President Susilo should talk to Lemhanas and also the National Defense Board (which was also represented during the hearing), to hear from them what the real situation is," he said.
Golkar legislator Afifuddin Thaib, however, was of the opinion that Lemhanas should have consulted with the President first before making its views public.
"As it's positioned under the President, it must coordinate first with the President on its work before announcing its views, especially to legislators. It could also get more comprehensive data from the President to complete its work," he said.
The government, meanwhile, is set to press ahead with the fifth round of talks with GAM in July, with one negotiator saying that only two issues remained unsettled.
"The two issues still on the table are the creation of local political parties and the reelection of councillors, both of which are impossible. But I'm still optimistic," said Indonesia's chief negotiator, Hamid Awaluddin, on Wednesday.
Hamid, who is also the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, said the issue of Aceh's administrative status was also close to resolution. GAM has asked for self-governing territory status for Aceh.
"It's only a question of semantics. It's not independence, but special autonomy. But we're working to fully settle this issue," he said.