PDI-P opposes giving more power to MPR

PDI-P opposes giving more power to MPR

JAKARTA (JP): A president should be allowed to serve his full
five-year term in office without any interruptions, not even from
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said on Thursday.

Outlining its position for next week's MPR gathering, PDI
Perjuangan, as the largest faction in the Assembly, plans to flex
its muscles against attempts to give the MPR even more power than
it has now to replace the president.

"A fixed five-year term guarantees that a president can not be
disturbed by an obligation to give a progress report before the
MPR (every year)," PDI Perjuangan faction chairman Heri Akhmadi
announced.

The working committee of the MPR filed a last-minute proposal
on the meeting's agenda, seeking to amend the Assembly's rules
and procedures. If approved, it would allow the MPR to turn an
annual meeting into a Special Session to impeach the president.

The National Awakening Party (PKB), the main political vehicle
of President Abdurrahman Wahid, was defeated in opposing the
motion and the matter will now be discussed by the MPR, which
begins its meeting on Monday.

The motion, proposed by 27 MPR members, somewhat contradicted
the assurances given by Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Tuesday, who said they
had no intention of turning the annual meeting into a special
meeting.

PDI Perjuangan said relations between the president, as the
head of state, government and other state institutions, should
ensure there were mutual checks and balances.

A president can only be impeached by the MPR if he or she has
betrayed the state, violated the Constitution or committed a
serious crime, Heri said.

The annual MPR meeting should be limited to listening to
progress reports by the president and other high state
institutions and to make recommendations based on those reports,
he said.

The party supports the amendment to the Assembly's internal
rulings and procedures on giving the MPR the right to make
recommendations at the annual meeting, he said.

Heri said the party hoped that the Annual Session becomes a
benchmark of democracy to reach a civilized nation.

This will be the inaugural annual meeting of the MPR as the
Assembly seeks to begin a tradition of closely monitoring the
performance of the government. In the past, the MPR met once
every five years to hear the accountability speech of the
president and then to elect the president.

Another major contentious point during the 12-day gathering
next week will be about the proposed second amendment to the 1945
Constitution, including a call to hold a direct presidential
election starting in 2004.

PDI Perjuangan insisted, however, on the current system in
which the MPR elects the president and vice president.

The party believes that a direct election is not an absolute
system to win the people's legitimacy, Heri said.

"The Assembly is chosen by the people, so whoever is elected
president reflects the people's choice," he said.

PDI Perjuangan is almost alone in defending the present
system, which also deprived the election of its chairwoman
Megawati Soekarnoputri last October.

Political analysts believe that Megawati, whose PDI Perjuangan
emerged as the winner in the June 1999 general election, would
have won the presidential election in October under a direct
system.

Separately, Arifin Panigoro, a PDI Perjuangan legislator, said
he was optimistic that economic and political reforms would
continue under President Abdurrahman's leadership.

Arifin, who is also a businessman, said Abdurrahman should be
given a chance to resolve the economic problems, noting that the
administration was not clear about its economic priorities.

"We just need time to cope with the economic matters," he told
a seminar on the prospect of next week's MPR meeting, organized
by the Institute for the Development of the Economy and Finance.

Arifin criticized MPR Speaker Amien Rais, who addressed the
forum earlier, for giving a thumbs-down to the President's first
10 months in office and for suggesting that he should resign if
the situation got any worse.

Arifin insisted that progress had been made since the days of
president Soeharto and that the process had not yet come to an
end.

He dismissed the negative attitude often expressed about next
week's MPR annual gathering, the first of its kind.

"I think positively. We have to follow the session," he said.
(jun/01)