New warning issued on MPR disruptions
JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the People's Consultative Assembly factions issued fresh warnings to their members yesterday against expressing dissent by interrupting the body's General Session next week.
Golkar chairman Harmoko, Armed Forces faction leader Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno and secretary-general of the United Development Party (PPP) Tosari Wijaya all said interruptions were unwanted and unnecessary as the Assembly's five factions had agreed on all issues to be endorsed during the 11-day convention which starts on Sunday.
"What's an interruption for when it is clear that a faction has already reached a decision. It (an interruption) will only be an act of indiscipline," Hari said, adding that the Armed Forces (ABRI) headquarters might consider punishing any dissenting legislators in its faction.
But Harmoko was quick to deny that such a warning would discourage democratization.
"Our Pancasila democracy places the deliberation to reach an agreement as the top priority. Different opinions are welcomed, but once a decision is taken, everybody has to comply with it," Harmoko said.
The Assembly is expected to endorse the draft of the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines and reelect incumbent President Soeharto and elect State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie vice president.
Harmoko, instead, hailed the upcoming General Session as the climax to long, grueling debates run in a democratic atmosphere.
"We used to deliberate drafts of policy guidelines drawn up by the government. But this time the drafts came from a political organization (Golkar). This is progress isn't it?" said Harmoko, a cabinet minister during the last three five-year terms.
The five factions -- Golkar, ABRI, PPP, the Indonesian Democratic Party and the regional representatives -- agreed to the Golkar-sponsored drafts after three months of deliberation that ended last month. During the course of the deliberations there were challenges on various issues from the Moslem-oriented PPP.
The Assembly's internal rules allow an interruption on matters of technicality. For instance, a member may interrupt proceedings in order to seek clarification, to correct a rule mistakenly implemented, or to call for a break.
Harmoko, in his capacity as the House of Representatives speaker, urged the nation to maintain its cool in the wake of rumors and provocation sparked by certain groups who wanted to take advantage of the current economic crisis.
"We are concerned about riots that erupted in a number of towns recently. Some of them were incited by rumors from people who wanted to divide the nation, and stemmed from suspicions that certain traders had hoarded basic commodities for speculative reasons," Harmoko told a plenary session that marked the end of the House sitting season yesterday.
A limited ministerial meeting on political affairs and security called on the community not to be provoked by groups seeking to exploit people and turn them into a psychological pressure group against the government, or to create antigovernment sentiment among the public.
The meeting said the whole nation was responsible for maintaining political stability and playing an active role in safeguarding the General Session.
It recommended that security officials be allowed to take firm action against any efforts by the unidentified groups to disrupt the sessions.
The meeting suggested that people should immediately report to nearby Alert Command Centers or military district commands if they learned of attempts to disrupt stability.
Present at the meeting were Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, Minister of Information R. Hartono, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Wiranto, Attorney General Singgih, Director-General for Sociopolitical Affairs Maj. Gen. Achdari and Deputy chief of the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency Maj. Gen. Rusdi. (imn/amd)