Rival coalitions disagree on how to end deadlock

Rival coalitions disagree on how to end deadlock

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the two opposing camps in the House of Representatives have
opened a line of communication with each other, they are still at
loggerheads on how to resolve their weeks-old deadlock.

The Nationhood Coalition along with the National Awakening
Party (PKB) said on Wednesday that they were willing to give up
some commission chairmanship posts, but the rival People's
Coalition insisted that the election of current commission
leaders violated the House's standing orders and thus must be
declared invalid.

Several legislators said the Nationhood Coalition-PKB axis was
ready to relinquish three commission chairmanship posts and 12
posts of deputy chairman for the People's Coalition.

Gayus Lumbuun of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P) said his faction was intensifying discussions on giving
up a commission chairmanship to the rival group.

"We will offer rival factions one post of commission chairman
and four posts of deputy chairman," Gayus told The Jakarta Post
here on Wednesday.

Aside from PDI-P, the Nationhood Coalition members are Golkar,
the Reform Star Party (PBR) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).
The PKB has thrown its support behind the coalition.

While welcoming the "power sharing", the People's Coalition
said that the Nationhood Coalition and PKB violated the House's
standing orders and that the violation had to be settled before
any meaningful discussion on chairmanship posts could start.

"We welcome the call for a reconciliation, but we have to
settle fundamental problems before discussing the power sharing.
There was a violation of the House's standing orders that must be
settled," said Arief Mudatsir Mandan of the United Development
Party (PPP).

Beside PPP, the People's Coalition includes the Democratic
Party (PD), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) and some small parties grouped under the
Democratic Pioneer Star (BPD) faction.

The People's Coalition had boycotted plenary meetings in the
House due to disagreements over election mechanisms for leaders
of 11 House commissions and five auxiliary bodies.

Although the meetings were attended by more than 300 of the
House's 547 members, the sessions were attended by five factions
only and thus legally invalid.

According to the House's standing orders, a meeting is valid
only if it is attended by more than half of the House members and
more than half of the House factions.

The Nationhood Coalition and PKB, however, had agreed to
change the House's rules so that a meeting attended by more than
half of the House members could be declared valid.

The conflict between the two blocs has resulted in dualism in
the House, with each holding separate meetings.

In a bid to resolve the deadlock, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono made an unscheduled meeting with House leaders on
Tuesday.

Deputy House speaker Muhaimin Iskandar of the PKB said on
Wednesday that House leaders were communicating with leaders of
the opposing factions about possible negotiations.

"We have offered a solution to them. We've given the factions
time to think about the solution before sitting together for a
talk," he told the press without giving any details.

Meanwhile, several students from universities in the Greater
Jakarta urged the legislators on Wednesday to settle their
problems in the next two days or the students would hold large
demonstrations.

Student activist Ramadoni said he and fellow student activists
had discussions with leaders of the two opposing groups and found
that neither group was willing to budge.

Commission -- Page 2