Observers say MPR blackmailing President

Observers say MPR blackmailing President

JAKARTA (JP): Observers lashed out at People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) legislators on Sunday for pushing for a decree to
formalize the task-sharing agreement between President
Abdurrahman Wahid and the Vice President, saying it was an
attempt to blackmail the President ahead of a planned Cabinet
reshuffle.

Some of the observers also accused the Golkar Party and what
they called "survivors of the old regime" of masterminding the
move in a bid to resume power.

Ali Sadikin, the founder of government critics group Petisi
(Petition) 50, said in a statement that the politicians were
aiming to horse-trade Abdurrahman's power away.

"The move to propose the decree has obviously trespassed the
president's prerogatives. Those ideas are thus unconstitutional,"
Ali, a former Jakarta governor, said.

He said Assembly legislators, who are now convening for their
first Annual Session, were trying to suggest the decree was
needed because of the ineffective government of Abdurrahman.

"Of course I won't stop criticizing President Abdurrahman for
the slow pace of his government in solving the various problem
plaguing the nation ... But it's very unfair to lay the
shortcomings on his shoulders," Ali said.

He said the issuance of such a decree would repeat the past
mistakes made by political parties' intervening in the
recruitment of Cabinet ministers, which according to the 1945
Constitution is the president's prerogative.

"Such a compromise is proven to prevent the Cabinet from
working effectively," Ali said.

Abdurrahman, under fire for his government's performance, told
the Assembly last Wednesday he would assign Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri with the day-to-day technical work of
running the government and restructuring the Cabinet.

Human rights activist Hendardi said the plan to release the
decree was not only political blackmail, but "a covert coup"
against the President.

"This is a test case for those political groupings trying to
strengthen their bargaining power, which predictably deals with
how many seats they are asking for in the new Cabinet," Hendardi
said.

He speculated the efforts would lead to "a political trap" set
by supporters of the old regime at the expense of Megawati and
the reform movement.

"For the same reasons, they will repeat their move against
Megawati. It's clear, however, that the root of ineffective
government is the politics of horse trading," Hendardi said.

Political expert Muhammad Bisri from the Semarang-based State
Islamic Institute shared Hendardi's view, saying any such decree
would finally be aimed at striking both Abdurrahman and Megawati.

"Both the President and Vice President will be vulnerable to
attacks using such a decree, if they are considered unable to
manage the government," Bisri said.

Another political analyst, Ali Mufiz, said the decree would
create complications if changes were made to the task-sharing
arrangement.

"Should an annual session which costs us Rp 25 billion be held
to formalize the changes?" he asked.

Political expert from Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University
Riswandha Imawan said the decree could be avoided if Abdurrahman
changed his inconsistent ways and improved his managerial skills.
(har/amd)