The House and the President

The House and the President

A variety of reactions emerged as soon as President
Abdurrahman Wahid announced his refusal to comply with the
summons addressed to him by the House of Representatives' special
committee investigating the Brunei and Bulog scandals. Aside from
the question of whether or not the President was right to reject
the summons, his stance is certain to create new tensions between
the chief executive and the legislature.

It is in this context advisable that the President respond to
the House's well-intended summons in order that everything may be
cleared up, once and for all. On the other hand, the House of
Representatives should not concern itself merely with those two
cases or with the past dismissal by the President of two Cabinet
ministers. To do so would only give rise to suspicions that
certain hidden political motives to remove the President are
behind the House's move. It is this kind of suspicion that must
be quashed because it could produce counter-reactions that might
endanger the nation.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta