MPR rejects presidential advisors' draft

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)