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)