GOI ANNOUNCES CHOICES FOR KEY LEGISLATIVE POSTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001677 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, H NSC FOR J. BADER, D.WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID SUBJECT: GOI ANNOUNCES CHOICES FOR KEY LEGISLATIVE POSTS REF: JAKARTA 1653 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (U) An Action Request is contained in Para 6. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat (PD) has selected Marzuki Alie to be Indonesia's next Speaker of the House of Representatives. PD has also given the nod to Taufik Kiemas--the husband of former president Megawati--to be Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),a largely symbolic position. Both men are long-time political operatives who are said to be experienced in the art of money politics. In picking Kiemas, PD is also signaling a desire to expand its coalition to include opposition elements. Action request in Para 6 suggests that Department contact Speaker Pelosi's Office and ask whether it wants to send a letter congratulating Speaker Alie on his selection. Para 7 contains bio-data on Alie and Kiemas. END SUMMARY. NEW SPEAKER APPOINTED ¶3. (C) Indonesia has a new Speaker of Parliament. President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat appointed its Secretary General, Marzuki Alie, to replace outgoing DPR (House of Representatives or Parliament) Speaker Agung Laksono of the Golkar Party. (Note: The new Parliament was sworn in on October 1. By virtue of having the most seats of any party, PD was able to choose who would serve in the influential Speaker position.) A first-time parliamentarian, party loyalist Alie, 55, surprised some political analysts by beating out distinguished senior competitors for the post. In contrast to Yudhoyono's clean governance agenda, Alie seems to bring few reformist credentials to the table. Moreover, he was named as a suspect in a 2004 graft case when he served as director at a state-owned cement company. Apparently the Attorney General's Office has never formally closed the investigation, though Alie has not been charged with any crime. ¶4. (C) In a corresponding move, Partai Demokrat chose young new legislator and solid reformist Anas Urbaningrum as head of the PD faction in the DPR. (Note: Each of the nine DPR parties has a a faction leader in the DPR who represents his party's interests.) An experienced politician and former student activist, Urbaningrum has been influential in PD policy matters and served as a member of the General Election Commission. This could bode well for the effective administration of the PD faction and the DPR. Urbaningrum was apparently awarded the faction head position after losing out in the race for the Speaker job. MEGAWATI'S HUSBAND ASSUMES LARGELY SYMBOLIC POSITION ¶5. (C) PD also chose the leader of another (less influential) legislative body. The MPR, heavily influenced by President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat and its coalition, elected as its Speaker opposition figure Taufik Kiemas, 67. Kiemas is married to Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDI-P (Indonesia Party of Democratic Struggle). (Note: The MPR is a bicameral institution consisting of the DPR and the DPD--Regional Representatives Assembly. It does not exert much if any influence on policy, but is important as a symbol of the unity of Indonesia's legislative branch.) Kiemas--who has a reputation tinged with money politics and deal-making allegations--replaces outgoing speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid of the Islamic-oriented Prosperous Justice Party, PKS. Kiemas' election was notable as it indicates that long-time opposition party PDI-P may join the government's coalition. In another legislative move, the DPD--another relatively non-influential legislative body--elected Irman Gusman as speaker, replacing Ginandjar Kartasasmita. ACTION REQUEST ¶6. (U) Mission suggests that Department contact Speaker Pelosi's Office and ask whether it wants to send a letter congratulating Speaker Alie on his selection. We believe that such a letter would be deeply appreciated by the Indonesian side. Such a letter would also further solidify U.S. links with the DPR built up via the House Democratic Assistance Commission (HDAC),which has been highly active with Indonesia through programming and mutual visits. Because of their anomalous and unique positioning in the Indonesian system, we do not see a Washington-generated letter as necessary at this time for the new occupants of the MPR and DPD speaker positions. END ACTION REQUEST. BIO-DATA ¶7. (C) Bio-data on Alie and Kiemas follows: -- Marzuki Alie: Alie was a civil servant in the business and finance sectors for about 35 years and has been part of the Partai Demokrat leadership since its inception. Starting out in the Regional Advisory Council in South Sumatra Province in 2002, he quickly moved to the Central Board in 2003, and gained the strategic position of Secretary General in 2005. Born in Palembang, South Sumatra Province on June 11, 1955, Alie, a Muslim, attended a Catholic Senior High School, then majored in Production Management in the School of Economics at Sriwijaya State University (UNSRI) in Palembang. He did his Masters program on corporate finance at UNSRI also. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in political marketing at North Malaysia University, Malaysia. He left his position at a state owned cement company PT Semen Bauraja in 2006 to become Commissioner of the private PT Global Perkasa Investindo firm. He is married and has two children. As noted above, he was named as a suspect in a 2004 graft case when he served as director at a state-owned cement company. The Attorney General's Office has apparently never formally closed the investigation, though Alie, it seems, has not been charged with any crimes. -- Taufik Kiemas: Kiemas is one of the founders of PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle). He is married to its chairperson, ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno. Kiemas was born in Jakarta on December 21, 1942. A member of Parliament since 1987, he represents West Java and served on Commission One (the influential foreign affairs and defense committee) from 2004 to 2009. He began his political career as a nationalist student activist. His father, Tjik Agus Kiemas, was a politician with Masyumi, a conservative Islamic political party, during the early years of Indonesian independence. (Note: President Sukarno later disbanded Masyumi for its apparent support of Islamic separatist rebels.) Kiemas attended but did not finish law school in Jakarta. He and Megawati own a string of fuel stations, mostly in Jakarta. Their daughter, Puan Maharani, is also a PDI-P politician and member of Parliament. Kiemas is dogged by allegations that he has been involved in money politics, corruption and various forms of political deal-making. That said, we are not aware that charges have ever been brought against him. OSIUS