Muslim reformist leader Amien Rais has become Indonesia's first freely elected top official, following a close legislative vote that is expected to pave the way for the first popularly chosen head of state.
In a lengthy plenary session late on Sunday, 650 members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) held a secret vote -- the first in decades -- to pick one of eight candidates to head Indonesia's highest legislative body for the next five years.
Rais, the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) that came fifth in June 7 polls, won the chair with a narrow margin of 26 seats against his main rival, Chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Matori Abdul Jalil.
He was backed by the leading Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), headed by presidential front-runner Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Though it is officially one of the most powerful positions in Indonesia, past autocratic presidents ensured the chairmanship of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) went to figures who toed the government line.
Rais immediately pledged to reform the constitution and tighten control over the new government.
Rais is a key member of the so-called "central axis" of Islamic and reform politicians which is backing Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid in the Oct. 20 presidential election.
"I will look at the MPR decrees and take out those which are not necessary, and go on with an effort to amend the 1945 constitution," Rais told reporters after the vote.
Rais gave no details but he is widely known to back far greater provincial autonomy in the huge archipelago and wants to curb the political role of the powerful military.
"I hope that the upcoming government, whoever the president is, can be checked every year, not every five years," he added.
Indonesia's first two presidents were autocrats and the third (and current) incumbent, the deeply unpopular B.J. Habibie, has only been in the job just over 16 months. He is widely expected to lose the Oct. 20 presidential election.
Initially, Abdurrahman Wahid had been favorite for MPR speaker, which would have kept him out of the presidential race.
Though almost blind and in poor health, the 58-year-old Wahid has been viewed as a possible compromise presidential candidate if former opposition leader Megawati is unable to win enough support in the newly-formed assembly.
Her party has the most seats in the assembly but not enough to dictate the result in the presidential vote. Analysts said if she ran alone against Habibie she would almost certainly win.
If Wahid joins the race, it could split reformists trying to end the legacy of disgraced autocrat Suharto, who after more than three decades in power, was forced to step down in May last year, handing the presidency to his acolyte Habibie.
The elections of both speaker and president will be the first real contests since the 1950s in the MPR, which in later decades became a "rubber stamp" assembly.
The body has been dominated by freely elected lawmakers after general elections for the lower House of Representatives in June, the nation's first free vote since 1955.
Megawati's party won the biggest share of the vote in June, but fell short of a majority.
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
RSS