MPR receives empowerment to call Special Session

MPR receives empowerment to call Special Session

JAKARTA (JP): Repeated assurance from People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais did not stop an ad hoc
committee from approving on Tuesday a controversial ruling that
will allow the legislative body to call for a Special Session
during an Annual Session.

Representatives of all factions in the ad hoc II committee for
nonconstitutional amendments, except the National Awakening Party
(PKB), agreed on a proposal to amend Article 50 in the Assembly
internal ruling, which was presented by 28 legislators on Monday,
with the aim to empower the Assembly.

The amended article stipulates that the House of
Representatives and the Assembly Annual Session can recommend a
Special Session to hear the President's account of his or her
policies. The current article simply says that the Assembly
convenes for a General Session every five years, an Annual
Session and a Special Session.

Chairman of the committee, Rambe Kamarulzaman from the Golkar
faction, said the change would be brought before 700 members of
the Assembly, who will convene for an Annual Session from Aug. 7
through Aug. 18, for approval.

"Don't read into the proposal too much, as if it is an effort
to topple the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid,"
Rambe said.

The PKB faction staunchly challenged the proposed amendment to
the Assembly internal ruling.

"It's not because of Gus Dur. We don't want the country's
president to be changed every year no matter who the president
is," PKB faction chairman Taufiqurrahman Saleh said, referring to
the President by his popular nickname.

Taufiqurrahman said he feared that Assembly legislators would
arbitrarily exercise their right to demand a Special Session.

PKB's other legislator Soebijakto Tjakrawerdaja questioned the
committee's agreement since it had not been discussed with the
Assembly's ad hoc committee I for constitutional amendments.

Soebijakto, who is the former minister of cooperatives, small
and medium enterprises under former president Soeharto, said the
proposal was against the Constitution.

"The Constitution states that only the House of
Representatives can call a Special Session to ask for the
president's accountability report," he remarked.

PKB had earlier questioned the proposal, which was signed
mostly by Golkar Party legislators, since it had not been
discussed by the committee previously.

Article 106 of the Assembly's internal ruling says a proposal
to amend the ruling needs at least 25 signatories. Most
legislators, however, would have not been aware of the ruling if
Rambe and the other 27 legislators did not exercise their right.

"The article has not been used since 1983," Rambe said.

The committee also unanimously agreed to change Article 49 of
the internal ruling, which allows the Assembly to not only listen
to the president's progress report, but to evaluate it, Rambe
said.

"The Assembly could give recommendations related to the
report. But not to reject or accept the report," he contended.

A plenary session of the Assembly working committee, which
prepares the incoming Annual Session, will be held to decide the
results of the deliberation of ad hoc committee I for
constitutional amendments and ad hoc committee II. (jun)