Members reject suggestions to cut Assembly session short

JAKARTA (JP): People's Consultative Assembly members dismissed suggestions yesterday that the 11-day General Session be shortened as the Rp 44.7 billion (US$5 million) event was marching smoothly toward its foregone conclusions.

A member of the dominant Golkar faction, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, said the need to hold the convention for 11 days was not an exaggeration given the extent of the materials legislators had to absorb and discuss.

"We convene day and night to refine the draft of all decrees that we bring from the preliminary session from October to January. The problem is most of the legislators did not attend the three months of preparatory meetings," she said.

Marwah rejected the idea that a shorter session would be reasonable given that the Assembly had in fact finished its job and the convention served only as a protracted ceremony to endorse the drafts of decrees and other decisions that had been reached in advance.

"Many people think the Assembly is sticking with its convention of uniformity, (but this is) merely because they do not know the process we undergo to reach agreements," she said.

But "nothing cannot be changed," she said. "Who knows, the factions may someday consider holding a shorter General Session for efficiency reasons, for example."

Political scientist Juwono Sudarsono, who is also a Golkar faction member, said people should not apply a cost-benefit analysis to a political system. He pointed out there was no guarantee that a shorter General Session would be more effective and efficient.

"We still need to hold the session over 11 days. We cannot hold marathon meetings as the session would lose its humanity. We are not machines," he said.

Outgoing Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman, also a Golkar faction member, said 11 days was just right to discuss the country's needs and programs for the next five years.

"We have to provide time to discuss everything, and we also need to access whether we are ready for the upcoming five-year development programs or not," said Oetojo.

According to Buttu Hutapea, chairman of Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Assembly faction, the General Session is always opened on March 1 to commemorate the guerrilla attack, led by the then Lt. Col. Soeharto, against the Dutch-occupied Yogyakarta in 1949.

"The session is ended on March 11 to mark the transfer of special authority by then president Sukarno to then Lt. Gen. Soeharto in 1966 to restore order after the abortive communist coup attempt in October 1965," Buttu noted.

Buttu, however, added he hoped that in future the session would be shortened.

Yaumil Agoes Achir, a Golkar faction member, said: "Even if the General Session takes more than 11 days, it's fine with me. We cannot change it, as it is a part of tradition".

Political scientist Muhammad A.S. Hikam from the National Institute of Sciences said the General Session was the consequence of a "procedural democracy."

He said the session need not be attended by 1,000 members. Instead, it needed only five people, one representative from each of the five factions.

"The whole business is only ritual. How can we expect a democratic meeting if even an interruption is regarded as a big taboo and there is only one microphone for 1,000 people," Hikam said.

United Development Party faction member A.M. Saefuddin disagreed. He said: "Although all of the materials have been readied by the working committee, they will have to be deliberated and endorsed in the General Session and it will take time. The length of the session is still suitable," he said. (team)