Legislators continue power struggle
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.