PDIP denies withdrawing support for mudflow interpellation - East Java Mudflow Information Center

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PDIP denies withdrawing support for mudflow interpellation

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

(Originally published by Antara in June 20, 2007)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) has categorically refuted an allegation that it has withdrawn its support for the House`s interpellation right to question President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster.

"It is not true that we have withdrawn our support for the interpellation. The PDIP never subscribes to the term `give up`. In fact, the PDIP will renew its call for the president to show up to give explanations on the issue," Tjahjo Kumolo, chairman of the PDIP faction, said here Wednesday.

The faction would always support a plenary session to question the government over the mudflow disaster but it did not want the House to wait as it did in the interpellation session on the government`s support for the UN resolution on Iran, he said.

The House suspended its plenary session on Iran on June 5, waiting for the president to have the time to explain the government`s support for UN resolution 1747 on Iran.

Any way, the PDIP must support the government to resolve the mudflow problem as quickly as possible, he said.

"Interpellation is a political process by which the House will ask the government to account for its slowness in compensating victims of the mudflow and repairing damaged infrastructures," he said.

Therefore, the PDIP faction wanted the House to go through with the interpellation, while at the same time urging the government to help the victims of the mudflow disaster as quickly as possible, he said.

"It is the government and not the private party that must be responsible for the fate of the affected people," he said.

The mudflow has submerged around 350 hectares of farmland and 23 school buildings and forced 20 companies to cease operation since one year ago. It also disrupted transportation from Surabaya to Malang and Jember or the other way around and affected the environment.

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