MPR members hail Ciganjur declaration
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) hailed on Wednesday a declaration by four popular prodemocracy figures while disagreeing over the demanded deadline for the establishment of a new government and the phasing out of the Armed Forces' sociopolitical role.
The chairman of the dominant Golkar party, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung, said the meeting of the opposition leaders could "inspire" the MPR Special Session.
"The demands were conveyed by public figures who have unquestionable credibility and integrity, so that it is expected that they will inspire the session," Akbar said after attending an Assembly plenary meeting.
Akbar was referring to a meeting between Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party; Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the largest Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama; Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of a faction of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party; and Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, the revered Yogyakarta governor, at Abdurrahman's house.
The organization of the meeting in Ciganjur, South Jakarta has been credited to students who had camped out in front of Megawati's house. They demanded that the four figures meet to set straight the reform agenda which they feared would be "betrayed" by the Assembly members.
The leaders did not meet their demands to form a national presidium but students from the Communication Forum of Jakarta Student Senates, Siliwangi University and the Big Family of the Bandung Technology Institute settled for the result dubbed the Ciganjur Declaration.
The head of the Assembly's Armed Forces (ABRI) faction, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also the military's chief of sociopolitical affairs, said the Ciganjur dialog expressed a reminder to all parties to remain united, "including the pile of homework which we must do together".
The Armed Forces faction welcomed the "fresh" ideas in the declaration, he said without elaborating. He added that the public should try to understand ABRI's efforts to reform itself.
One point in the declaration says ABRI's sociopolitical role should be phased out at the latest within six years.
Marzuki Darusman, Golkar's Assembly faction chairman, said Golkar was seeking to bridge public demands with the topics set for the Assembly's agenda, such as ABRI's sociopolitical role and investigations into Soeharto's wealth.
Aisyah Amini of the United Development Party (PPP) faction disagreed with the declaration's deadline for ABRI.
"We could do it now. Soeharto stepped down suddenly from (the presidency), why can't ABRI do the same?" she said as quoted by Antara. "Like the pounding of iron when it is hot, we should not wait till the iron gets cold," she said.
Akbar, however, said Golkar would not set a time limit to end ABRI's sociopolitical role, saying that it would depend on ABRI's response to the matter.
He added Golkar was advocating the eventual limitation of ABRI to only seats in the Assembly instead of its current allocation of seats also in the House of Representatives and local representative bodies.
"It would also depend on the people's capability to create solid national unity," Akbar said, adding that safeguarding unity was the very reason for ABRI's sociopolitical role, including its representation in parliament.
However, Gen. (ret.) Feisal Tanjung of the ABRI faction, who is also coordinating minister for political affairs and security, dismissed the declaration, saying the subjects should only be discussed by the Assembly members.
Golkar faction member Dewi Fortuna Anwar said it was "technically impossible" for the Assembly (MPR) to elect a new president to replace B.J. Habibie three months after the general election next year, as stated in the declaration. She cited the many constitutional issues that had to be resolved before a presidential election could take place. (das/rms/byg)