Much hope and doubt for new House leaders

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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