Much hope and doubt for new House leaders

JAKARTA (JP): New legislators praise and place great hope in the new leadership of the House of Representatives, but political observers express doubt whether the body will live up to expectations.

Hari Sabarno of the Armed Forces (ABRI), Ary Mardjono of the ruling Golkar and Usamah Hisyam of the United Development Party (PPP) separately agreed yesterday that the new House, under new speaker Harmoko, will be as solid as President Soeharto called for.

Political observers Soehardjo S.S., Kahar Badjuri and Amien Rais, however, separately agreed on Thursday that the House leaders would actually face an uphill battle restoring the body's deteriorating image.

"Learning ... the election process of the leaders ... I believe they will form a solid partnership," Hari Sabarno said.

Ary, who is Golkar secretary-general, said the combination of the leading figures was the best hope for the four factions in the House. "The House factions ... cannot hope for a better lineup," he said.

Harmoko is supported by four deputies: Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid of ABRI, Abdul Gafur of Golkar, Ismail Hasan Metareum of PPP and Fatimah Achmad of the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

"The House's new leaders come from different disciplines which will enable them to exchange experiences and knowledge," Hari said.

But Amien Rais said: "We have to realize that people's trust in their representatives has been declining. This is an unhealthy phenomenon. This is a challenge for Harmoko and colleagues to rehabilitate the situation."

"Won't Harmoko have difficulties in meeting President Soeharto's expectation for a House that is on equal footing with the government?" said Soehardjo, a lecturer at Diponegoro University in Semarang.

He criticized the recruitment of House members which he said was nepotistic in nature, as evident in the fact that there were factions which had all members of one family in them.

"People's representatives are supposed to represent the people, not their fathers or husbands," he said.

Kahar Badjuri, dean of the Diponegoro University's School of Social and Political Sciences, agreed. "If Harmoko wants to really establish a strong House, he should make those representatives really voice the aspirations of the people, not just his party's or some groups'," he said.

Soehardjo went so far as to give a dismal prediction of the House's performance in the future.

"I don't have any bad prejudice against House members, but I'm not confident in them," Amien Rais said.

Harmoko has held two ministerial posts under his belt in the past 14 years. He was minister of information from 1983 to June 1997, before briefly assuming the specially created position of state minister of special assignments until this Wednesday.

Separately, Minister of Information R. Hartono said he was sure that Harmoko had the quality to lead the legislative body.

"We hope Harmoko will bring the House into a certain condition that meets the people's demand for its independence and quality," Hartono said.

Hartono, who represents legislators elected from among social groups, known as the Societal Group Faction, at the Assembly, said he believed the new House leadership would live up to expectation of a solid legislative body.

"I am sure Harmoko and his deputies will collaborate for the betterment of the House's performance," he said.

The same praises came from Syarwan, who also represents ABRI at the Assembly, who called Harmoko "the right person" for the House speaker post.

PPP legislator Usamah Hisyam expected that the House's new lineup would support the initiative for the revocation of irrelevant products of legislation.

"I also hope that Harmoko will help maximize the Indonesian press's role through the deliberation of legal institutions in settling press disputes," he told The Jakarta Post. (imn/amd/har/swe)

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