MPR members unhappy with acting speakers

MPR members unhappy with acting speakers

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) blamed the two acting speakers on Sunday for the long and
sometimes trivial debates during the plenary session of the
Assembly.

Members said Soejitno Hardjosoediro of the interest group and
Izul Islam of the United Development Party (PPP), both of whom
had been appointed on Friday to preside over the session until a
speaker of the Assembly was elected on Sunday, were indecisive.

However, Soejitno, 77, and Izul, 30, got the job by default as
tradition usually dictates that the oldest and youngest Assembly
members preside over the general session before it elects a
speaker.

"We should start reevaluating the tradition of electing the
youngest and the oldest members of the Assembly to be the acting
speakers because sometimes it is proven that they are not capable
of doing the job," Khofifah Indar Parawansa of the National
Awakening Party (PKB) told reporters.

Many believed that indecisiveness was behind the excessively
long debate on Saturday when the Assembly members decided to
dispose of the regional representatives faction.

"I hope that in the future General Session of the Assembly
there will be an agreement between the major political parties to
name a proper acting speaker until the speaker of the Assembly is
elected," Khofifah added.

Both Izul, and particularly Soejitno, were clearly
uncomfortable as they presided over the plenary session which was
filled with dozens of interruptions from Assembly members unhappy
with the proceedings.

Soejitno, who had a rather bemused look, sometimes seemed lost
as he tried to control the rambunctious assembly members. What
should have been a simple process of two voting procedures turned
into a four-hour session which continued until the early hours of
Sunday morning.

Soejitno denied on Sunday that he was indecisive in presiding
over the session, saying that he was only trying "to accommodate
and listen to the other people's opinions".

However, he admitted that he was "nervous".

Hatta Rajasa of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said that the
blame should not be put squarely on the acting speaker's
shoulders.

"Whoever is in that position will face a similar situation,
and you can't do much because we are now in an era where people
are free to express their opinions," he said, adding that the
legislators were also under enormous public pressure to complete
the session on schedule.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the Crescent Star Party also said that
the perceived indecisiveness was "understandable" and called on
the Assembly members to be patient.

"We have to sympathize with Pak Soejitno because his condition
is arising from old age," Yusril said.

Analysts said that the excessively long and trivial debates in
the Assembly were due to unfamiliar background in the process of
a parliamentary democracy.

For 32-years, the assembly had been a voiceless body that
convened once every five years to rubber stamp the government's
policies, but now many expect that major decisions will have to
be decided by vote. (byg/emf/rms)