1. COURT (4 X 12)<\/p>\n
Judges of
\nnew court's
\ncredibility
\nquestioned<\/p>\n
Law experts have questioned the credibility of judges of the
\nnewly established Constitutional Court due to a hasty process of
\nthe judges selection and the endorsement of the Constitutional
\nCourt bill.<\/p>\n
\"We are now in the situation of like possessing cats in a bag
\nas fit and proper test of the judges was carried out in a very
\nshort time,\" a noted legal expert Todung Mulya Lubis told the
\nJakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Thus, it is inevitable that the Constitutional Court has
\nseveral judges that are affiliated with political parties, but
\npublic can not examine their independence from those parties,
\naccording to him.<\/p>\n
\"If we have enough time to carry out fit and proper tests,
\npublic will be able to test the judges political stance. With
\nthat, we can force them to step down in the future if they break
\ntheir statement,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Todung claimed that political interests had too much burdened
\nthe selection of the Constitutional Court judges, prompting the
\nselection process was less credible.<\/p>\n
\"It is very difficult to maintain public confidence of the
\nConstitutional Court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Harun Al Rasyid concurred with Todung. Harun said that many
\nhad asked him about the Constitutional Court judges reputation,
\nbut he only knew few of them.<\/p>\n
\"Who are these judges? Do they have knowledge on Constitution
\nLaw and State Administrative Law ?,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Harun said the problem emerged due to poor selection process
\nand legal flaws in the Constitutional Court Law.<\/p>\n
According to him, the Constitutional Court Law is violating
\nthe amended 1945 Constitution as it limited the age of judges of
\nbetween 40 and 67, while the Constitution did not stipulate such
\na criteria.<\/p>\n
The Constitutional Court, which consists of nine judges, has a
\nnumber of powerful authorities, including reviewing laws against
\nthe amended 1945 Constitution, recommending an impeachment of the
\npresident, dissolving political parties, and resolving dispute on
\ngeneral election result.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri just installed on Saturday
\nthe nine judges after a quick selection from the government, the
\nHouse of Representatives and the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Each institutions had power to select three judges
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
The House, for example, named constitutional law expert Jimly
\nAssiddiqie (affiliated with Golkar party), former House
\nlegislator Achmad Rustandi (affiliated with the United
\nDevelopment Party) and People's Consultative Assembly legislator
\nI Dewa Gede Palguna as the Constitutional Court judges.<\/p>\n
However, the House had only conducted fit and proper tests for
\ntwo days on last Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n
The government also selected three judges: Achmad Syariffudin
\nNatabaya of the state University of Sriwijaya, Mukti Fajar of the
\nstate University of Brawijaya and Haryono of the regional
\nrepresentatives faction at the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(affiliated with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle).<\/p>\n
But the government also failed to carry out an open fit and
\nproper tests in a limited time.<\/p>\n
The remaining three judges that hailed from the Supreme Court
\nchoice are Laica Marzuki, Sudarsono and Muarar Siahaan, who are
\nall the High Court judges.<\/p>\n
Besides the hasty selection of the judges, the Constitution
\nCourt Law also possessed problems on its content as it was only
\ndeliberated by the House in one and half months before its
\nendorsement two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
President Megawati signed the court bill several days later,
\npassing the bill into a law.<\/p>\n
2. NATION (2 X 21)<\/p>\n
Scholar says RI suffers
\nfrom nationalism crisis<\/p>\n
Almost 60 years after it declared independence in 1945, Indonesia
\nstill suffers from a nationalism crisis, which could lead to
\ndisintegration, a prominent scholar says.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi Azra, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State
\nIslamic University, said over the weekend that Indonesia had to
\nembark on a campaign of multicultural education in order to cure
\nthe nationalism crisis and prevent the country from breaking up.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar entitled Ethnic Chinese and the Politics
\nof Multiculturalism here on Saturday, Azyumardi said the crisis
\nhad long plagued the country and became serious during the
\nleadership of former president Soeharto, although it was quelled.<\/p>\n
During his 32-year reign, Soeharto adopted monoculturalism at
\nthe national level by putting Javanese culture above all others,
\nand thus creating animosity among the thousands of other ethnic
\ngroups in the archipelago, Azyumardi said.<\/p>\n
Ethnic acrimony came to a head in the form of many violent
\nclashes between Javanese and non-Javanese after Soeharto's iron-
\nfisted regime collapsed -- and with it the oppressive control of
\nsociety -- in May 1998.<\/p>\n
\"The end of the New Order era provided an opportunity for a
\ncounter-reaction,\" Azyumardi wrote in his paper presented during
\nthe seminar, which was organized by the Institute for Social and
\nEconomic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi, however, was not present at the seminar, which was
\nheld in conjunction with the nation's 58th independence
\nanniversary on Sunday.<\/p>\n
According to Azyumardi, the counter-reaction manifested itself
\nin demands by many ethnic groups\/regions to separate from
\nIndonesia after they felt that they had been treated as second-
\nclass citizens for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
He said Soeharto imposed his brand of the much-hated
\nmonoculturalism on regions and through his centralization policy,
\nwherein natural resource revenues were essentially stolen by
\nJava, while the local people in those regions became desperately
\npoor.<\/p>\n
Provincialism and discrimination against other ethnic groups
\nin the recruitment of regional government posts has become a
\ncommon practice since the reform movement started in 1998, a
\nphenomenon that could lead to the disintegration of the nation,
\nsaid Azyumardi.<\/p>\n
He also stated that separatism was a fact that Indonesia would
\nhave to deal with in order to prevent a total break up.<\/p>\n
In addition to possible solutions such as granting greater
\nautonomy, Azyumardi proposed in his paper that Indonesia should
\nintroduce and promote multicultural education, so that people
\nwould accept differences and respect each other.<\/p>\n
According to Azyumardi, the concept of multiculturalism could
\nfoster cooperation among people and encourage them to negotiate
\nany differences so that there would no longer be conflicts among
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi said such a campaign should be started now with the
\nyounger generation via formal and non-formal education
\nnationwide, so that it could create a sense of belonging, for the
\nyounger generations, to Indonesia as a nation and state.<\/p>\n
3. DROUGHT (2 X 24)<\/p>\n
Govt allots Rp1 trillion
\nfor farmers, villagers<\/p>\n
The government will channel Rp 1 trillion (US$117.6 million)
\nbeginning September to farmers and peasants, who are affected
\nmost by the current drought, Coordinating Minister for People's
\nWelfare Jusuf Kalla said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Priorities and the form of labor intensive program assistance
\nwill be discussed during a coordination meeting between the
\ncoordinating ministry for people's welfare and governors in
\nJakarta on Tuesday,\" Jusuf Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying
\nafter visiting dry paddy fields in Karawang regency, Purwakarta,
\nWest Java on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The minister did not say where the government would take the
\nmoney from but assured that the House of Representatives (DPR)
\nhad approved the disbursement of the funds to help farmers and
\npeasants who experienced crop failure due to prolonged drought.<\/p>\n
The labor intensive programs will include repairing irrigation
\ncanals and tree planting along water catchment areas (DAS) so
\nthat more water would be preserved during the rainy season and
\nprevent flash floods.<\/p>\n
\"Plant seeds are ready; farmers and peasons need only to plant
\nthem, for which they will get paid,\" Jusuf Kalla said.<\/p>\n
The government would also sell rice to farmers and peasants at
\nRp 1,000 per kilogram. The cheapest rice available in the market
\ncosts Rp 1,800 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
During his visit, Jusuf Kalla, who was accompanied by Minister
\nfor Restlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno, State
\nMinister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim, and West Java
\nGovernor Dany Setiawan, also officiated one Water Treatment Unit
\nworth Rp 2.5 billion in Balong Gandu village, Karawang. Some
\n3,000 families are to benefit from the unit.<\/p>\n
Jusuf Kalla said the drought had caused crop failure in some
\nrice-producing areas on Java, affecting national rice supply.<\/p>\n
\"This year's drought hits rice-producing areas and it will
\ndefinitely affect national rice supply, aside from triggering
\nclean water scarcity and reducing purchasing ability among
\nfarmers,\" said the minister.<\/p>\n
4. REMISI (2 X 18)<\/p>\n
5,000 inmates freed
\non Independence Day<\/p>\n
Independence Day was certainly liberating for some inmates of the
\ncountry's prisons. Over 5,000 of them were granted the remission
\nof their sentences, and set free on Sunday, in line with
\ncelebrations.<\/p>\n
The Minister for Justice and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra, said 5,175 inmates ended their prison terms upon
\nreceiving the remission. But, a total of 43,475 inmates
\nthroughout the country were granted remission by President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri. The remaining 38,300 inmates will still
\nhave to serve the rest of their sentences, the minister said.<\/p>\n
\"The remissions are expected to make all -- especially the
\nprisoners -- appreciate the freedom of every individual,\" he told
\nreporters after the remission-granting ceremony in Paledang
\nprison in Bogor, West Java.<\/p>\n
Presently, there are 85,149 inmates in correctional centers
\nacross the country.<\/p>\n
Convicts who show good conduct while serving their sentences
\nmay be granted a remission, on one of two occasions each year.
\nOne on independence day, and the other on either (religious
\nholiday), Idul Fitri or Christmas.<\/p>\n
Among the recipients of the remission are timber tycoon
\nMohamad \"Bob\" Hasan, and former president Soeharto's son Hutomo
\n\"Tommy\" Mandala Putra, who are imprisoned in Nusakambangan
\nprison-island.<\/p>\n
Hasan's jail sentence is cut by seven months and 20 days,
\nwhile Tommy's by four months and 15 days.<\/p>\n
The remission, however, eludes the \"smiling bomber\" Amrozi,
\nwho was recently sentenced to death by the Denpasar District
\nCourt for his complicity in the deadly Bali blast.<\/p>\n
An official said that a person who has just been sentenced to
\ndeath is not entitled to be granted remission, but he or she
\ncould ask for a Presidential clemency as a last resort.<\/p>",
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