President puts House rift behind

President puts House rift behind

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid put his
overnight quarrel with House of Representatives (DPR) over his
alleged graft behind him as he invited legislators on Tuesday to
a post-Idul Fitri gathering this weekend, two days before they
are scheduled to announce their findings.

"The President has asked me to announce that the DPR members
are invited to a post-holiday gathering here on Saturday,"
presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told reporters.

"The President considers that they (the legislators) all are
his friends and brothers."

Muslims in Indonesia traditionally hold a get-together to
express their forgiveness for each other, after celebrating Idul
Fitri with their own families.

Wimar was quick to add that the reception had nothing to do
with Monday's hearing at the Jakarta Convention Center, saying
that "the gathering has been scheduled for a while".

Abdurrahman's abrupt decision to leave the hearing enraged
members of the House special committee with some of them
suggesting that the President was impolite.

Abdurrahman defended his action saying that the committee was
illegal and that it could not provide an answer on Monday as to
whether it was a political or legal forum.

The committee is seeking to question Abdurrahman about the
fraudulent withdrawal of Rp 35 billion (US$ 3.3 million) from the
State Logistics Agency (Bulog) by his masseur and the fate of a
US$2 million donation from the Sultan of Brunei, which the
President claims was a personal gift.

The committee is scheduled to complete its investigation on
Thursday and reveal its findings to the public on Jan. 29.

Wimar said on Tuesday that Abdurrahman "holds no grudges"
against the committee members.

He could not say, however, whether Abdurrahman had invited all
500 members of the DPR, saying only that the invitation was "not
just for DPR leaders".

Previous governments also followed the practice.

When opening a pencak silat martial arts congress later in the
day, Gus Dur played down the controversy between his government
and the DPR, and instead asked for better cooperation between the
two sides.

He said the government and the legislature differed only in
their interpretation of the constitution.

"We maintain the use of the principle of caution and the
courage to say what is right," he said.

"The government is taking the stance of defending what is
contained in the 1945 constitution and does not care who it will
have to face," he added.

Separately, the chairman of the House's special committee
investigating the two financial scandals, Bachtiar Chamsyah, said
Gus Dur was the last witness to be heard after months of probe.

He said the committee was intensifying discussions in order to
complete the investigation on time.

The committee's deputy chairman Didi Supriyanto said his team
was comparing its findings and the relevant documents. He added
that the committee would come up with a simple conclusion in
order to avoid prolonged debate when it is presented to the House
plenary session on Monday.

Several reliable sources on the special committee told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the committee would come to the
conclusion that the President was involved in the two scandals,
abused his power and told lies.

The President has denied his involvement in the disbursement
of Rp 35 billion from the Bulog foundation while several
witnesses have testified to the President's knowledge of the
funds' disbursement.

Separately, the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction in the
House of Representatives called on the special committee to
unveil an objective report on its investigations in order to
avoid heightened political tension in the city.

"The present attempt by the special committee to reach a
conclusion that will discredit President Abdurrahman Wahid and
his government will raise new political tension and cause a high
social cost that we will have to pay in the transition period
toward a democracy," Taufikurrahman Saleh, chairman of the PKB
faction, told a press conference here on Tuesday.

Taufikurrahman said his faction would likely walk out of the
plenary session if the special committee concludes that the
President is involved in the scandals.

"The special committee is established to seek the truth and
not to try the President," he said.

He implied that thousands of Nadlatul Ulama-affiliated Banser
civilian guards and members of the Ansor youth organization from
outside Jakarta would throng the House compound to counter
antigovernment demonstrations during the plenary session on
Monday.

"Our faction is against any mass mobilization and we have
prohibited Banser members to come to Jakarta. But, they will
likely force their way to Jakarta anyway," he said. (byg/rms)