Indonesian Senior Minister Pledges to Improve President, Veep TiesNewly appointed Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Social, Political and Security Affairs Agum Gumelar was optimistic here Wednesday that he would be able to break on the congealment relationship between President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.He also said that he would make a breakthrough to bridge communication between the president and the vice president. "I have to be able to liquefy the communication rigidity between them, not with muscle, but (with) putting forward (an intensive) communication," Gumelar was quoted by the Antara News Agency as saying. He was optimistic that he would be successful in bridging communication between Wahid, Megawati and parliament. Wahid and Megawati have been involved in what some observers described as "a cold war" following differences between them in term of daily statehood affairs. Ties between the two tended to deteriorate in particular in the wake of the recommendation of parliament on the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) last month, which Megawati's largest party of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) become the first largest party which proposed the session. The Assembly has decided to stage a special session on August 1, where Wahid might face impeachment. Last week, the Muslim cleric sacked his six cabinet ministers, but Megawati wasn't involved in the process. "This is for the sake of the nation's safety. I will put forward communication in solving the problem and in melting ties between the president, vice president and the parliament," Gumelar added. |
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