No more power or censure: Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid defiantly ruled out the possibility of delegating more power to his deputy Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday and said he would refuse to respond to the House of Representatives' second memorandum of censure.

The move would likely escalate tension between the President and the House, which over the past months have been at loggerheads.

Abdurrahman reacted angrily when asked whether he was willing to give up most of his authority to Megawati.

"What more power? I have given everything to her except two things," Abdurrahman told a hastily convened press briefing at Merdeka Palace.

The briefing was held on Friday to dispel rumors that the President was ill following his absence from Friday prayers.

Abdurrahman has said earlier that Megawati could have all executive powers except those affecting policy making and the appointment of state officials.

"An agreement has been reached a long time ago that the Vice President would preside over the Cabinet meeting, take care of the technical matters of the government and I would supervise the basic outline of Cabinet policies and the appointment (of state officials)," he said referring to a presidential decree issued in August last year following the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Speaking in English, Abdurrahman claimed that so far Megawati had "no problem" with the arrangement.

"She is happy with that too. It's just the people who would like to see a rift between myself and her and this has been spread through the media," he said.

"There is no problem with the Vice President and if there's any difference of opinion, it's natural as long as it is an individual matter, not concerning government policies."

Censure

Obviously irked by the persistent questions on a possible power-sharing, Abdurrahman then snapped that he would not respond to the House's second censure.

"There will be no response, because if I respond, it will be a catastrophe for the legislature," said the President, who has until the end of the month to respond.

The President's statement came as a team of seven cabinet members had said earlier that a "clearer" power-sharing arrangement between Abdurrahman and Megawati was probably "the most realistic choice" to end the political impasse.

The team, led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is scheduled to present its final recommendation to the President on May 15.

Many have suggested that the current decree, No. 121/2000, promised little in the way of real power for Megawati as her specified duties do not include policy making.

Megawati's duties as specified in the decree include: formulating the Cabinet's working agenda, including the focus and priorities of the government; chairing Cabinet meetings, drafting its conclusions and explaining the results to the people; providing supervision and direction to members of the Cabinet; overseeing and evaluating the Cabinet's work in executing the agenda and various programs; coordinating with other state institutions; and making operational decisions in the context of executing the daily technical duties of government.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung maintained again on Friday that delegation of power to Megawati was the only viable solution and it should be strengthened in the form of an Assembly decree.

Some legislators rejected the idea, however, saying that the power-sharing formula was only aimed at "prolonging the life" of Abdurrahman's administration.

"The idea is only to prolong the life of the ailing government, so we believe that the only options are an immediate resignation or removal from office," House deputy speaker A.M. Fatwa said.

Meanwhile Vice President Megawati who was in Bengkulu, blamed the country's political crisis on the political elite.

"I am not going to exclude myself from responsibility for the mistakes," she said in her written speech before the students of the state-owned Bengkulu University.

The House is scheduled to meet on May 30 to decide whether to call an Assembly special session which could possibly convene impeachment hearings.

But Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab suggested later on Friday that the deadline might be postponed.

Alwi said the House might agree to delay the plenary session, because it fell close to the Group of 15 summit on May 30 and May 31. (byg/dja/rms)