MPR drops plan to convene in Bali

MPR drops plan to convene in Bali

Kurniawan Hari and I Wayan Juniarta, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ad hoc committee for
constitutional amendment on Wednesday finally dropped its plans
to convene at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Denpasar, Bali.

Deputy chairman of the committee, Slamet Effendi Yusuf of
Golkar, confirmed cancellation of the plan, but refused to
provide further comment.

"We've dropped the plan to go to Bali, but I don't want to
talk about it. It will be better to discuss the substance of the
amendment," Slamet told The Jakarta Post by phone.

The cancellation was also confirmed by the luxury hotel's
public relations manager Dewi Aprianti.

The plan has sparked condemnation, say observers, as it shown
a lack of sensitivity on the part of legislators towards the
plight of the common people.

Fellow legislator Akil Mochtar disclosed that members of the
ad hoc committee would convene in Jakarta, during which they
would discuss the constitutional amendment.

He said that the decision behind the cancellation came from
leaders of the ad hoc committee which, besides Slamet himself,
Jacob Tobing of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), and Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening Party
(PKB).

In their meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the 48 committee
members were forced to vote as to whether they should go ahead
with the plan.

"The vote tally was equally strong, so we let the committee
leaders decide," Akil added.

According to Akil, there was no information on the next venue,
but most possibly legislators would convene at the Assembly
building.

He admitted to abstaining from voting, as he was a member of
the group that had no problem about the venue of the convention.

Ali Masykur was among those who rejected plans to go to Bali,
while Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa of Golkar, and A.M. Luthfi of the
National Mandate Party (PAN), were among those supporting the
Bali trip.

An official of the Assembly secretariat, Janed Jri, admitted
that the secretariat had canceled the air tickets and the
accommodation in Bali.

But, Janed declined to specify the amount of money the
legislators would save by canceling the trip.

He added that there was no cancellation fee for either the air
tickets or hotel reservations. "There are no cancellation fees.
We did make preparations, but not that far," he told the Post.

A rough calculation of a round-trip air fare costs Rp 1.5
million per legislator. Their food is also covered during their
stay. The room rates in the Bali Beach Hotel range from Rp
500,000 to Rp 700,000 per night.

The legislators would also receive a daily stipend of Rp
350,000, consisting of Rp 150,000 for transportation, and Rp
200,000 for spending money.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the five-star Grand Bali Beach
Hotel in Denpasar, Bali, confirmed the cancellation on Wednesday
of the four-day committee meeting.

"Hotel management was informed on Tuesday evening by the
Assembly's secretariat that they wanted to cancel the meeting. I
don't have any information on the reasons," hotel representative
Dewi Aprianti said.

Aprianti expressed regret over the cancellation, stating that
the hotel had completed all the preparations to host the meeting.
Up to 50 rooms had been prepared to accommodate the committee
members.

"We have turned away a number of people who wanted to book the
rooms, since we had already reserved them for the committee
members," Dewi said. A large room and several smaller meeting
rooms.

Yet she fell short of explaining the loss suffered by the
hotel due to the cancellation, saying management had not
calculated it yet.

"Currently, our occupancy rate is about 73 percent, which is
good. If the meeting was not canceled it would have contributed a
significant increase to that rate," she said.