MPR rejects presidential advisors' draft

JAKARTA (JP): The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) turned down yesterday a recommendation for the amendment of the State Policy Guidelines by a team of presidential advisors on the Pancasila state ideology propagation.

Chairman of the Assembly committee in charge of the State Policy Guidelines R. Hartono said it was too late for the public or any organization to suggest changes to the guidelines.

"We have already accepted Golkar's draft as the outline of the State Policy Guidelines and drafts of the other four factions as supplements.

"Now that we have started the deliberation, it's impossible for us to change the outline. What are the outside drafts for, if they will only disrupt the order (of the deliberation)?" asked Hartono after attending the committee's session.

The presidential advisors team led by former vice president Sudharmono presented Wednesday their draft amendment to Assembly Speaker Harmoko. Later that day the Assembly received another proposal from an association of independence fighters.

In their draft, the presidential advisors suggested three strategies to make the development program a success. They include indiscriminative law enforcement and justice, a clean government, and professional bureaucracy.

Deliberation of the State Policy Guidelines is now underway and will last until Jan. 22. During yesterday's session, the committee passed seven topics dealing with, among other things, education, social welfare, family planning and women's roles.

The committee will present its draft to the Assembly on Jan. 23. The Assembly will seek approval of the draft from its 1,000 members in the second stage of its general session next March.

Hartono said further public aspirations could be put forward if a faction in the Assembly requested it, but they would only be used to support the faction's arguments.

Neither the dominant Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), the Armed Forces or the regional representatives factions revealed its wish to pick up proposals from either the presidential advisors or the independence fighters.

Golkar representative Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and her PPP counterpart Muhammad Buang said their factions did not intend to change their respective drafts.

"We have agreed so far to draw up the State Policy Guidelines from our own drafts," Hardiyanti, President Soeharto's eldest daughter, said.

Buang said PPP did not reserve time to discuss the presidential advisors' proposal. "Our own draft has already contained all the substances they offer," Buang said.

He said the committee's rule of the game could not sustain external proposals because all the five factions had accepted Golkar's draft.

PDI representative Soedaryanto was cautious, saying his faction had yet to receive both drafts from the presidential advisors and the independence fighters.

"We are going to study the proposals. But I think we will need new compromises to accommodate them or those from other organizations," said Soedaryanto, one of PDI's only two representatives in the committee.

The Armed Forces legislator Hari Sabarno refused to comment. (amd)