PPP to press its stance on crisis

JAKARTA (JP): The General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly kicked off yesterday with the United Development Party (PPP) faction setting its sights on breaking the long held convention of having a uniform opinion.

Chief of the PPP faction in the Assembly, Jusuf Syakir, said after an internal meeting with his team that his party would ask the Assembly to include economic crisis as a global phenomenon in the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines.

"The draft of policy guidelines apparently fails to touch the actual issue. We demand that the Assembly deliberate our proposal," Jusuf said on the sidelines of a PPP meeting at the Assembly building.

A draft of the State Policy Guidelines will be deliberated by the Assembly Commission B on Thursday.

All five factions in the Assembly have agreed on the Golkar- sponsored draft during the preliminary meetings which concluded in January.

Head of the Golkar faction Ginandjar Kartasasmita said over the weekend that his faction did not wish to make any changes in the draft. He said the document already contained anticipation of the impacts of the financial crisis.

Economic woes that started to shake Southeast and East Asian countries in July last year have caused widespread price increases, massive lay-offs and a severe economic slowdown. A wave of riots over price rises has erupted in at least 25 towns and cities across Indonesia.

Jusuf said he understood that the Assembly working committee had failed to give much attention to the monetary turmoil because at that time people had yet to feel the pinch of the crisis.

He suggested, however, that the Assembly should not turn a blind eye to the real situation now facing the nation and cited the huge number of people suffering from the protracted crisis.

All the factions in the Assembly were preparing their overview of President Soeharto's accountability speech until late last night. Each faction was given 14 hours, starting from midday yesterday, to discuss their stance. They will deliver their results tomorrow.

The Assembly factions look set to accept Soeharto's 2,000-page report on his performance, as several faction members have indicated.

Ginandjar said Golkar did not have any reasons to reject the accountability report because the grouping has already given two thumbs up to the President's state-of-the-nation speech delivered on Aug. 16, the eve of Independence Day.

"The speech today serves only as a supplement to the President's state-of-the-nation speeches over the past five years," Ginandjar said.

Leader of the Armed Forces faction Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno said his faction could in general accept Soeharto's address.

"We have renominated Pak Harto for the presidency. Why should we speak about anything wrong with the accountability speech?" Hari said.

Hari's colleague, Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono, added that although the Armed Forces would likely approve the accountability report, the faction would still study it first.

Outside of the Assembly building, life went on as usual despite the marked presence of the military. Traditional markets, supermarkets and other public sites were busy with people enjoying Sunday.

Tight security measures applied only in the Assembly compound, with police officers posted at the gate often searching people entering the venue for the General Session.

Earlier yesterday Assembly Speaker Harmoko declared the quinquennial convention open with a call for the nation to remain resilient in the wake of the economic crisis.

Harmoko said the crisis, which has escalated to affect social life, was of a global phenomenon marking the entry of the 21st century.

"We are facing trying times just like the other Southeast and East Asian countries. But the coming century is believed to bring new hopes and opportunities," Harmoko said in his address.

Later in the day, Golkar faction executives, including those from the Armed Forces and the bureaucracy, met with members of Golkar's board of patrons, including B.J. Habibie.

Antara said the meeting was held to as a final check with regard to the faction's nomination of Habibie as the 1998/2003 vice president.

The meeting was attended by Golkar faction chief, Ginandjar Kartasasmita and outgoing ministers Hartarto, Tarmizi Taher and Azwar Anas, who are all senior Golkar members.

Akbar Tandjung, another Golkar executive, said Golkar and its allies, the Armed Forces and the regional representative factions, have been working closely in order to ensure the General Session proceeds successfully. The three also lobbied the two minority factions, the PPP and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), to ensure smooth presidential and vice presidential elections. (byg/amd)