MPR session ends with PPP standing firm

JAKARTA (JP): Insulated from the violent street protests raging nearby, legislators of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) concluded their Special Session on Friday by unanimously adopting 11 decrees they believe will pave the way for political reform.

Only the minority United Development Party (PPP) held out over the 12th decree, which contained a clause allowing the powerful Armed Forces (ABRI) to maintain an unelected presence in the House of Representatives and the regional legislatures. The PPP forced the other four factions -- Golkar, the regional representatives, the Indonesian Democratic Party and ABRI -- to vote on the final version of the document which stipulates a gradual reduction in the military's presence in the legislatures.

On Friday, the PPP faction walked out of the early morning session of Commission A, which was deliberating the controversial document. During the final plenary session before the Assembly closed on Friday night, PPP legislators again swam against the current and voted against endorsing the military's political role.

A total of 791 legislators endorsed the military's political role, while 122 PPP legislators and two legislators from the regional representatives voted against it.

Another show-stealer was Didik J. Rachbini, a noted economist and Golkar legislator, who became the only member of his faction ever to stand up and abstain in a vote. "It is my personal point of view. I am not concerned if Golkar dismisses me," he said later.

"The problem of ABRI (in the legislative bodies) must continue to be debated. It should not stop here," he added.

Assembly Speaker Harmoko presided over the final plenary session, which was very noisy because of the voting forced upon it by the PPP.

"These decrees that we have produced are for the sake of solidifying reform," Harmoko said solemnly before handing the documents to President B.J. Habibie, who was present at the closing session.

"The results of this special MPR session are the results of the entire Indonesian nation -- those who oppose it and those in favor of it," Habibie said in his address to the Assembly.

He talked of "a democracy that has an Indonesian cultural flavor, that is critical but also full of tolerance and understanding."

Habibie also used the occasion to express his sympathies to the families of those killed and injured in the violent clashes that have rocked Jakarta over the past two days.

"I want to express my sympathies to victims, both civilians and the security personnel, and for the deaths of two students in a process that, willing or not, the whole Indonesian nation has to go through," Habibie said.

Earlier in the day, at least one other commission was locked in tough debate.

Commission C, while deliberating a motion on establishing a separate decree to empower an investigation of former president Soeharto, was again split between the PPP faction, which was in favor of the motion, and the other four factions in the commission, which were against it. The PPP later accepted a compromise which saw the issue included in the decree on clean governance.

Meanwhile, Zarkasih Nur, chairman of PPP faction, told The Jakarta Post after the plenary session that he was not disappointed with the voting process and its eventual outcome.

"We realized beforehand that our faction would lose in the vote. We lost the vote but won the support of the majority of the public, who are against the military's presence in the House," he said.

He said he was confident that students and many other groups were behind his faction's campaign to expel the military from the country's legislative bodies, adding that his faction would resume the battle in the Assembly's general session next year.

Also earlier in the day, the dominant Golkar faction and the tiny PDI united in criticizing the PPP for resorting to a walk- out to end the deadlock reached in the debate.

Golkar legislator Slamet Effendy Yusuf told a media conference that it was not necessary for the PPP legislators to leave the Commission A session.

"Walking out is not recognized in the Assembly's decision- making process, but we understand that the move was designed to emphasize the persistence and depth of their opposition," Slamet said.

Walkout

All PPP legislators attending the commission's final session to endorse a draft decree on elections left the session quietly before a vote that was offered to break the deadlock stemming from the their opposition to the Armed Forces' retaining unelected seats in the country's legislatures.

The PPP demanded a secret ballot, but when its demand was rejected by the other four factions, the Moslem-based faction opted to walk out.

PDI legislator Buttu Hutapea agreed with Slamet, saying the rules were quite clear and that the PPP should have complied with them and remained in the session.

"A secret ballot deals with personal issues, for example a vote to support someone's nomination for a certain post. I don't think an issue like ABRI's presence in the House should be subject to a secret ballot," Slamet said.

Political expert Bagir Manan said the PPP's stance should serve as a worthy political lesson to the public, although it may not have been the best choice for the party to take.

"A walk-out is a way of showing opposition. It happened because in the past, people were forced to follow the sacred principle of deliberation for consensus," Bagir from Padjadjaran University in Bandung said as quoted by Antara.

He said people should be encouraged to exercise their freedom of speech and to express their thoughts and opinions in a frank manner. (team)