President denies shifting task to VP Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid denied accusations on Friday that he had been trying to shift the responsibility for making major political decisions to his deputy Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Abdurrahman, who was on a two-day visit to the South Sumatra capital of Palembang, was quoted by Antara as saying that it was his prerogative to involve the Vice President in decision-making.

Speaking before a gathering of local civic and religious leaders, the President said that "consultation with the Vice President on highly important state matters is not unusual".

Abdurrahman on Friday was responding to House Speaker Akbar Tandjung's statement that the President had recently been trying "to hide behind Megawati's back" when he had to make important decisions.

The statement came as the President in the past weeks had delayed making several major decisions saying that he needed to consult Megawati first.

On Wednesday, he delayed responding to State Minister for Administrative Reform Ryaas Rasyid's resignation from the Cabinet and asked him to stay on, pending consultation with Megawati, who is still abroad and scheduled to return home on Jan. 9.

Abdurrahman, after rejecting both former justice minister Muladi and legal expert Bagir Manan, also claimed last month that Megawati would have the final say in deciding who would be the other candidates for the Supreme Court chief justice post.

A Megawati confidant said on Thursday, however, that the Vice President had turned down Abdurrahman's mandate to choose alternative candidates for the Supreme Court chief and returned the responsibility to the President.

Later on Friday, Akbar praised Megawati's move saying that the final say in the matter should be in the hands of the President.

"We give a thumbs up to her decision... Gus Dur may ask for inputs from Megawati but he must be the deciding voice in the matter," he said.

He then accused Abdurrahman of "stalling" to avoid making a decision.

"It is inappropriate for the President to buy time in determining the right candidate for the chief justice post since this position has been left vacant for a long time," Akbar said.

The post of chief justice has been vacant since Sarwata retired last November. His duties have since then been performed by his deputy T.H. Ketut Suraputra. But, Suraputra also retired last month.

The House has urged Abdurrahman to choose between Muladi and Bagir Manan, but the President has refused to bow to the demand saying that the two were known to be loyal to the New Order regime and partisan.

Akbar said that he hoped the President would have made a decision on the matter by the time the House reconvened on Jan. 15.

Meanwhile, Hartono Mardjono, deputy chairman of House Commission II for home and legal affairs, warned that further delay would only raise tension between Abdurrahman and the House.

Commenting on regional autonomy, Abdurrahman said on Friday that an autonomy supervisory board would soon be established and that its members were due to be sworn in on Jan. 15.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would be in charge of the day-to-day running of the body. (byg/rms)