Legislators continue power struggle
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Though the legitimacy of their meetings remains questionable, members of the Nationhood Coalition and the National Awakening Party (PKB) continued on Thursday to elect their own members as the chairs or deputy chairs of the House commissions.
At least 10 House of Representatives' commissions held leadership elections on Thursday, with Golkar winning five commission chairs, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) four and the PKB one.
The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) received one deputy post, while the Reform Star Party (PBR) got neither a chair or a deputy chair.
One commission and five auxiliary bodies chairmanships remain vacant and will be discussed on Friday.
Leaders of rival factions belonging to the People's Coalition said they would challenge the legitimacy of the commission elections at the Supreme Court, but did not say when they would file a petition.
The People's Coalition -- consisting of the United Development Faction, Democratic Faction, National Mandate Faction, Prosperous Justice Faction and the Democratic Pioneer Reform Faction -- has boycotted all House meetings since the Nationhood Coalition rejected a proposal to distribute the commission and auxiliary body chairmanships proportionately.
Under a proportional system, large factions such as Golkar and the PDI-P would receive more chairman posts than smaller factions such as the PBR and PDS.
The Nationhood Coalition rejected the proportional system in favor of a vote, which would guarantee it control over all of the commissions and auxiliary bodies. The coalition has vowed to control the House following the crushing defeat of its presidential candidate, Megawati Soekarnoputri, in the Sept. 20 election.
If the Nationhood Coalition is able to control the chairmanships of the House commissions, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would have a difficult time pushing through his programs.
"We can no longer delay the election process. We have to start working because the government is already in place," House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno of the PDI-P said before opening the election for the chair of Commission II on Thursday.
The elections were attended by legislators from the Nationhood Coalition and the PKB. PAN legislators attended the leadership elections for Commissions III, IV and VII. Alvin Lie and Sudjud Siradjuddin of PAN were elected as deputy chairmen of Commission IV and VII, respectively. However, they later withdrew from the posts.
PAN faction chairman Abdillah Toha said the People's Coalition would discuss the possibility of issuing a motion of no- confidence against the current House leaders and seeking an opinion from the Supreme Court.
House leaders and the chairmen of all 10 factions in the legislature held a meeting on Thursday, during which they agreed to delay the commission elections until Friday. The People's Coalition also agreed to submit the names of their commission members.
Members of the Nationhood Coalition, however, ignored the agreement and went ahead with the election of commission leaders later in the day.