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.
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