Legislators warn Megawati of bumpy road ahead

Legislators warn Megawati of bumpy road ahead

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Legislators welcomed President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
progress report on Thursday, delivered on the day of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) Annual Session, but they reminded the
government of the tough job that lies ahead.

"The speech was comprehensive and refreshing as it contained
detailed facts and figures on our economic condition," MPR
speaker Amien Rais told reporters on Thursday.

"It was comprehensive and included data on exports, imports,
labor and state-owned enterprises," he added.

However, Amien said that they were only numbers and harder
efforts by the government to make further improvement was needed
in the future.

Theo L. Sambuaga of the Golkar Party said the government had
yet to produce concrete results during its three-month old
tenure. However, Theo found it understandable given the limited
time the government has had.

"The President has informed us about what the government has
done to deal with the situation.

"It's not much really, but what's more important is that the
government has identified, in a comprehensive manner, what the
problems are and what programs, in various sectors, have been set
up to tackle them," Theo said.

Aberson Sihaloho of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), while admitting that he had no objection to the
President's speech, also cautioned that the country's economic
recovery did not rely entirely on the government.

"It's impossible for the government to get the country out of
the crisis all by itself. They need help too.

"That's why we're here, so that the government and legislators
can set up a formula to work together and solve the problems," he
said.

Legislators of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Ali Masjkur
and Yusuf Muhammad cited the report as mere rhetoric, which did
not contain any real action to try to deal with the current
situation.

"It's only words, but no real action has been carried out so
far. Law enforcement for example, what they have done to bring
all those corrupt people to justice? Nothing so far," Yusuf
claimed.

A analyst, Imam Prasodjo, said the progress report contained a
new subtle distinction as it showed that the new government had
focussed more attention on social matters rather than political
ones.

"The way I see it, the government's awareness of social
affairs is greater than on political problems. It's not what it
used to be," he told reporters.

President Megawati addressed on Thursday her first
presidential progress report before the Assembly, the country's
highest legislative body.

In her speech, the President revealed that the country was now
facing an even grimmer economic outlook as a result of
unfortunate conditions, both internal and external.

The world now seems likely to be heading toward a full-blown
recession as the world's major economies, the U.S. and Japan,
were having a hard time propping up their own economic
performance.

Things then went from bad to worse with the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks on the U.S.

The Annual Session, slated to last until Nov. 10 and attended
by 549 of the 700-member Assembly, will discuss a number of draft
resolutions, including the amendment of the 1945 Constitution.