'Megawati will survive MPR Annual Session'

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais gave his assurance on Wednesday that President Megawati would survive the Assembly's August Annual Session where she is supposed to deliver a progress report on her year-long government, instead of an accountability speech.

He denied rumors that certain groups in the legislature would press the Assembly to ask Megawati to account for her government's performance over the past year during the session.

According to the Constitution, a president could be impeached if his or her accountability speech is rejected by the Assembly.

"I can give a 100 percent guarantee that the Annual Session will not be turned into a forum to question the President's accountability," he said.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) of which Megawati is the chairperson, shared the same view that the President would not be asked to present an accountability speech in the Annual Session.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said recently that according to the amended Constitution, there was no longer any need for the President to account for her government's performance in the Assembly.

According to the amended Constitution, a president is elected by the people through a direct presidential election and, therefore, there is no need for a president to give either a progress report or an accountability speech to the Assembly.

Meantime, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United Development Party (PPP) and Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa of Golkar party insisted that the President should deliver her progress report during the Annual Session.

According to him, both the executive and other state institutions are obliged to deliver a progress report to the Assembly because the President was appointed by the Assembly.

As long as there is no revision to the decree, Lukman added, the regulation is still relevant.

Agun, meanwhile, said that in order to minimize suspicion, there was no need for the Assembly factions to give their views after the President's report.

"The President should deliver the progress report because she was elected by the Assembly," Agun added.

A member of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Syafrin Romas said that the annual progress report by the president was needed to prevent the president from committing any wrongdoing.

President Abdurrahman Wahid was the first president to give a progress report at the 2000 Annual Session during which he called the legislative body a kindergarten.