Winds of change sweep the Assembly
JAKARTA (JP): Hope is high that the seeds of democracy, sowed during the June general election, will bear fruit when the 700 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) legislators begin their terms on Friday.
A number of people blacklisted during the New Order regime for their stiff opposition to the rule of Soeharto will be among those sworn in to the new Assembly, which will hold its General Session.
Nobody would have expected that the likes of Aberson Marle Sihaloho, who was jailed in 1996 for defaming Soeharto, or A.M. Fatwa, who was sent to prison for subversion following an uprising in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, in 1984, would emerge as members of the respected Assembly.
For others, the new period serves as a reunion for those who have retained their seats. Golkar Party's Ekky Syahrudin, Andi Mattalata, Marwah Daud Ibrahim will join forces, while Aisyah Amini and Khofifah Indar Parawansa meet again with different teams. Until November last year, both were legislators representing the United Development Party, but this time around Khofifah is representing the National Awakening Party.
Not all of the 700 members will turn up for the induction ceremony on Friday. General Elections Commission secretary Samad Thahir said at least 15 regional representatives from East Timor, Aceh and Southeast Sulawesi would miss the ceremony.
MPR comprises 462 House of Representatives members elected in the June 7 polls, 38 representatives of Indonesian Military and National Police, 135 regional representatives and 65 representatives of various interest groups.
Friday's function will mark the start of weeks of debate in the General Session, during which the MPR members will decide on its internal rules, State Policy Guidelines and constitutional amendments before finally electing a president for the 1999/2004 period.
Apart from the presidential election, Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung said amendment of the 1945 Constitution would highlight the General Session.
"The amendment will most likely focus on how to enforce the principle of check and balance among the state's highest institutions," Akbar said.
Before electing its speaker on Saturday, the Assembly will most likely name its oldest member Abdul Majid of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, 72, and its youngest member Izul Islam of United Development Party, 29, to preside over the session.
On the eve of oath-taking before Chief Justice Sarwata, the Assembly agreed to break a long-standing taboo. On Friday, they will be allowed to remain seated while the President enters or leaves the Assembly hall.
Some legislators objected the old protocol, insisting that the Assembly was the state's highest institution according to the 1945 Constitution.
But an Assembly member representing interest groups, Mohammad Assegaf, disputed the new convention, saying the President, as the head of state, deserved the tribute. "I will rise even though other members remain seated," Assegaf said during a rehearsal for Friday's ceremony.
The legislators will not attend a procession at Lubang Buaya Monument in East Jakarta prior to their induction either. In the past, Assembly members commemorated the Indonesian Military's crushing of a 1965 coup attempt, which was blamed on the now banned Indonesian Communist Party, at the monument before they were installed.
With different opinions becoming the order of the day, some legislators have predicted that many decisions will be reached only after a vote is taken.
Priyo Budi Santoso of Golkar said: "Even birds of a feather will possibly not flock together this time around. I don't think we are 100 percent united in some areas, including on the issue of the presidency."
Golkar has named incumbent B.J. Habibie its sole presidential candidate, although a rift appears to be forming over the decision. (emf/amd)