President set to chair first Cabinet meeting since censure

JAKARTA (JP): Saturday morning's Cabinet meeting could be a key event, especially if both President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri attend, as it is the first one since the House of Representatives issued the second memorandum of censure against the President.

The President is due to chair the Cabinet meeting, which is officially scheduled to discuss the 2001 draft budget revision before it is presented to the House.

However, many expect the question of the censure to be a highlight in discussions at the meeting.

But as of Friday evening the Vice President's attendance remained in question.

According to sources at Merdeka Selatan Palace, the Vice President's office, the Cabinet meeting has not been entered into her schedule.

"We usually obtain her official schedule for the next day one day beforehand. However, until now, she still does not have an official schedule for tomorrow (Saturday)," a protocol official at her office remarked.

Megawati came down with the flu just days before the House debate on the censure on Monday, conveniently excusing her from having to confer with the President on the sensitive issue.

Through her party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjaungan) she has signaled overtly political intent by taking up initiatives to plan a meeting with other political party leaders.

On Friday afternoon, Megawati chaired a party meeting at its headquarters on Jl. Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, which officially discussed a bill on Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Should she be absent on Saturday, it could also cast a shadow on revisions to the budget.

Ministry of Finance Director General of Financial Institutions Darmin Nasution disclosed that the Cabinet needed approval from both the President and Vice President before it could present the 2001 revised budget plan to the House.

Among the revisions planned will be a higher assumed exchange rate of the rupiah against the greenback, a higher than expected inflation rate and the lowering of forecast economic growth.

Supersemar

Earlier on Friday morning, Megawati visited the National Achives office in South Jakarta, where she specifically instructed its chief Mukhlis Paeni to find out what happened to the original historic March 11 Executive Order (Supersemar) document.

First president Sukarno, Megawati's father, signed the decree on March 11, 1966, in which he ordered the Army's Strategic Reserves Commander Lt. Gen. Soeharto to restore order in Jakarta, following the abortive Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) coup the previous year.

Soeharto used the order to effectively take over power from Sukarno.

Oddly, the whereabouts of the original of the controversial document remain a mystery. Only a copy is available to this day.

"That is one document which is still not kept in this place. It is a part of the country's documentation of history," Megawati said, referring to the Supersemar document.

Mukhlis conceded that his office had not been able to find the original text.

"Ibu Megawati promised to help in arranging meetings with people who may be able to help us to find the original text," Mukhlis said. (dja/prb)