MPR members hail Ciganjur declaration

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)