http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FK11Ae04.html
House deadlock leaves Indonesia hanging By Bill Guerin JAKARTA - Swept to power on a landslide people's mandate in elections that were widely praised the world over, former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, frequently called "a man of the people" and now Indonesia's sixth president, has been hamstrung in his efforts to come through on his campaign promises and drive reforms. The new parliament has forced an early confrontation with Yudhoyono, whose advisers expected trouble, though not quite so early. Legislators from the opposition, which now holds most of the seats in the 547-member House of Representatives (DPR), the national parliament, have elected their own leaders to head parliament's 11 influential commissions and five auxiliary bodies, leaving Yudhoyono's supporters out in the cold. Despite his mandate, Yudhoyono's promises to combat corruption, terrorism and unemployment will be difficult to kick-start unless he has the opposition's support. The major party factions in the DPR include the Golkar Party with 128 seats, Megawati Sukarnopuri's Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 109 seats, the United Development Party (PPP) with 58 seats, the Democratic Party (PD) with 55 seats, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) both with 52 seats, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) with 45 seats, the reform Star Party (PBR) with 13 seats and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) with 12 seats and some smaller political parties grouped under the Democratic Pioneer Star (BPD). Shortly after the election of House leaders last month, all factions initially agreed to select the leaders of the commissions based on the proportion of the parties' seats in parliament, the traditional way the House has resolved the issue in the past. Golkar, with the most seats in the House, was to get four commission chairmanships. The second-biggest faction, PDI-P, would get three chairmanships, while the PPP, the PD, PAN, and PKB would get one. But PKB rejected the deal, arguing that it should be entitled to the leadership of two commissions. The four-party Nationhood Coalition, which groups Golkar, PDI-P, PDS and PBR, then insisted that the posts be put to the vote. The much smaller, pro-government People's Coalition, which includes the PD, PAN, PKS, PPP ands BPD factions, insisted that these key posts be awarded in proportion to the number of seats held by each party. The Nationhood Coalition opted to resolve the matter by voting for the leadership of the commissions at a two-day series of plenary meetings, but the People's Coalition boycotted all meetings and hearings. The Nationhood Coalition and the PKB went ahead with meetings anyway, as they had secured a majority (together they hold 309 of the House seats). The Nationhood Coalition and the PKB retaliated against the boycott by unilaterally taking all the leading posts of chairmen and vice chairmen, leaving none for Yudhoyono's supporters. They also revised the House's standing orders and scrapped a stipulation that a House meeting needed more than half the factions present to be legitimate. Army chief appointment In another move that has deepened the rift between parliament and the new president, the defense commission has endorsed outgoing president Megawati Sukarnoputri's last-minute nomination of army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu as the new chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI). Yudhoyono, apparently determined to prevent Ryacudu from taking the position, has rejected the move, saying he will conduct a major reshuffle of the leadership of the armed forces once he has consolidated his administration. Under the law, the president has the right to appoint and dismiss the TNI commander provided he has the approval of the House. Just days before Yudhoyono assumed office on October 20, Megawati announced that incumbent commander General Endriartono Sutarto had resigned, and proposed that parliament replace him with Ryacudu. Yudhoyono's official spokesmen have said that the president wants to retain Sutarto until he consolidates his administration and launches a thorough overhaul of the armed forces' leadership. He withdrew Megawati's letter of request, which parliament had yet to approve, but chairman of House Commission I on defense affairs, Theo L Sambuaga, last week told the press, "We have endorsed the nomination of Ryamizard [as TNI chief]. We hope the president will install him soon." Last Friday a total of 56 legislators from the Nationhood Coalition, plus the PKB, handed in a petition to Speaker of the House Agung Laksono, requesting that the House exercise its right to question the president over the appointment of a new TNI chief. Then on Tuesday Laksono insisted that parliament would go ahead with its plan to summon Yudhoyono, saying the move had been approved by House leaders. In its role of scrutinizing the executive, the House has the right to launch an inquiry, make a statement, draft bills, and summon the president in order to seek explanations. Theoretically, if legislators are not happy with his response, they could initiate proceedings to have him dismissed. In 1999, the country's third president, B J Habibie, was summoned to give an explanation before a House plenary session over the result of the United Nations-sponsored ballot in which East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. An end to the impasse There were signs over the weekend that the impasse might just be resolved. The People's Coalition agreed on Monday to attend House of Representatives meetings beginning the next day. However, the planned plenary session ended in chaos on Tuesday after repeated interruptions by legislators from PAN, PD, and PPP as Speaker Laksono was reading out the agenda for the day's discussions. Some of the legislators advanced to Laksono's lofty perch above the floor, angry about the "interpellation" motion being proposed against the president. Laksono, nominated for the position by his boss, Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung, has, up until now, shown little interest in compromise and the trial of strength over the military issue suggests that even more battles are in the offing as Indonesia's first directly elected president tries to move on with governing the country in the face of concerted opposition from hostile legislators. The president has, so far, taken a low-profile approach, urging legislators to settle the disputes by themselves as soon as possible. But the impasse means that the government is unable to get down to work with legislators and discuss and debate crucial issues, such as the budget revision, and the related, but thorny, issue of fuel subsidies. In order for the DPR to function to the full, all the commissions, widely seen as vulnerable to corruption, have to be formed. But if the House remains deadlocked, it will be unable to function. Economist Faisal Basri points out, however, that the new administration could still concentrate on matters that do not require the House's stamp of approval, such as revoking or revising presidential and ministerial decrees that had slowed investment. "The government can reduce some of the obstacles to investment through short-term programs," he said on Monday. Elements of the local media and several political observers see the issue as much more serious, threatening a constitutional crisis or even Yudhoyono's downfall. They warn that if the opposing camps do not settle their disputes soon, the president has the right to dissolve the DPR. Ray Rangkuti, executive director of the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring, warns that legislators must end their hostilities to prevent this. "When the House stalls, the president is entitled to issue a decree to dissolve parliament. This would create a constitutional crisis," he said. A bold headline in one mainstream Jakarta daily on Monday asked the question, "Could Yudhoyono's fate be the same as that of Gus Dur?" Indonesia's fourth president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was impeached and unseated by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) only 21 months after becoming the country's first freely elected head of state in more than four decades. He had threatened to dissolve parliament and declare a state of emergency. This was after the president had been summoned by the House to clarify his decision to dismiss two of his ministers, Laksamana Sukardi from the PDI-P and Golkar's Jusuf Kalla, now the country's vice president. The chambers of power in the magnificent Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat building, where the country's second president Suharto had so often made a mockery of the democratic process, resounded on July 26, 2001, to frequent peals of the Voice of the People bell as legislators passed judgment on Wahid. With only his own party, the PKB, doing its best to stem the tide of political malice, Wahid was slowly but surely emasculated in front of the world by lesser men who had either never heard of, or not respected, the immortal phrase of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, who said, "I love my people, but I love my country more." Golkar leader Tanjung was a key player in the downfall of Wahid, helping the parliamentary plotters to elevate the enigmatic Megawati to become the fifth leader of the nation - though less than two years before the same crew of selfish politicians masquerading as reformists had denied the lady the victory to which she was entitled. Tanjung, though no longer a legislator, was also the driving force behind the Nationhood Coalition, formed In August this year to support Megawati before the election run-off in September. After her defeat, the coalition said it would mount a "credible" opposition in parliament. Some analysts have suggested the conflict will end if Tanjung loses the Golkar chairmanship at the party congress next month and the party's parliamentary faction then throws its weight behind Yudhoyono. The PDI-P is also due to hold its congress in January to determine its political future post-Megawati. Who wins? As the political temperature rises and the various "compromise" formulas fail, a split in the ranks of both political juggernauts could possibly reconfigure the political map. But whatever the case, there will be no winners in this fight, least of all the long suffering Indonesians themselves. The dawning of the new democracy seems as far away as ever. Asked by an interviewer about his views on democracy a day after he was dethroned, Wahid said that though a measure of democracy was in progress, "in Indonesia the president is only a plaything for parliament and the DPR". He admitted that his appeal was to the masses. The Indonesian people were hungry and someone has to defend their rights, so "I was forced to be a leader of the masses", said Wahid. This is also Yudhoyono's strongest card, his massive mandate from the people, though he has yet to deal his hand. Bill Guerin has worked for 19 years in Indonesia as a journalist and editor. He specializes in business/economy issues and political analysis related to Indonesia. He has been a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000 and has also been published by the BBC on East Timor. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . (Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for information on our sales and syndication policies.) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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