Habibie's record<\/p>\n
President B.J. Habibie is going for a record of sorts which
\nthe publisher of the Guinness Book of Records might want to
\nconsider for its next edition. His administration has drafted
\nabout 20 bills and asked the House of Representatives to
\ndeliberate and endorse them before the June 7 general election.
\nEven if the House cannot endorse all 24 pieces of legislation,
\nincluding one or two that were initiated by members, in the
\nremaining four months of its term in office, we would still have
\nto admire the government for its ability to draft so many bills
\nin such a short time.<\/p>\n
The bills that have been, or are about to be, presented to the
\nHouse include one on regional administrations; on preventing
\ncorruption, collusion and nepotism; on national security and
\ndefense; on allocating resources between central and regional
\nadministrations; on repealing the law on referendum to amend the
\nConstitution; and on repealing the law on subversion.<\/p>\n
The tight legislative agenda of the current administration is
\na reflection of the poor state of the legal framework it
\ninherited from the repressive government of president Soeharto
\nand the urgency with which it needs to reform the system. Yet,
\nwhile we commend the government for its hard work in trying to
\ncorrect the legal structure, we question the wisdom of pushing
\nthese bills down the throats of House members, and therefore on
\nthe nation they represent, with as little debate as possible.<\/p>\n
With limited time for debating each bill, the general public,
\nas in the 32 years of Soeharto's regime, will once again be
\nsidelined in the process of formulating important state policies.
\nSince these bills will not be subject to extensive public debate,
\nthey will fail to reflect the aspirations of the people. These
\nnew laws will not be all that different from the ones they
\nreplace. They will simply reflect the political agenda of those
\nin power today, including Habibie himself, the Golkar party and
\nthe Armed Forces (ABRI), which together control the House.<\/p>\n
We have already seen how these three elements in power
\nconspired to push the House to endorse three political bills --
\naround which the June 7 elections will be organized -- by the
\nJan. 28 deadline set by the government. Objections raised outside
\nthe House, particularly by the new political parties vying to
\ncontest the election, were virtually ignored. Many of these new
\nparties, which were too busy consolidating themselves, will
\nprobably only realize that the system grossly favors Golkar
\ncloser to election date, by which time it will too late to ask
\nfor revisions.<\/p>\n
The bill on regional administrations, submitted last week,
\nshows poor preparation and fails to live up to the government's
\npromise of more autonomy for the regions. In its present form,
\nthe bill will simply confirm the overriding powers the central
\nadministration wields over the regions.<\/p>\n
ABRI's agenda is most clear in the plan to present a bill on
\nnational defense and security, which will allow it to recruit and
\ntrain civilians for a new force that has been called different
\nnames: the Rakyat terlatih civilian militia (Ratih), People's
\nResistance (Wanra) and People's Security (Kamra). So confident is
\nthe military of a swift passage, even in the face of strong
\npublic protests and objections, that it has started recruiting
\ncivilians for the program. By moving ahead before the legislation
\nis put in place, ABRI is guilty, if not of flouting the
\nconstitutional process, at least of confirming the public's
\nperception that the House is a mere rubber stamping agency for
\nthe government's agenda.<\/p>\n
While no one will question the fact that the country faces a
\nHerculean task in reforming the political system, Habibie's
\nadministration, which after all is transitional, will be well
\nadvised to limit its legislative agenda to essentials only. Its
\npriority has been clear from the beginning: organize a truly
\ndemocratic general election. It should leave the business of
\nmaking other legislative changes to the next elected government.
\nBy enacting these undemocratic laws, the government is only
\ncreating unnecessary work for its successor, which will have to
\nrepeal them before enacting new legislation more representative
\nof the people's aspirations.<\/p>\n
In trying to accomplish much in as little time as possible,
\nHabibie could end up achieving nothing but a collection of
\nimperfect, if not useless, laws. Instead of securing entry in the
\nGuinness Book of Records, his achievement will probably find its
\nplace among the collection of trivia at the Museum of Records in
\nSemarang. For that is what these new pieces of legislation will
\nend up as: a collection of trivial, but grossly wasteful,
\nundertakings.<\/p>",
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