New warning issued on MPR disruptions

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)