MPR special session will dig into meaty issues<\/p>\n
By Ridwan Max Sidjabat<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Clean government. The presence of Armed Forces
\nrepresentatives at legislative bodies. Limitation to presidential
\nterms.<\/p>\n
Those are among the issues that will be deliberated at the
\nSpecial Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on
\nNov. 10-13. They are the benchmark with which the public will
\njudge the body's seriousness in campaigning for reform, and also
\nthe most likely to cause fierce debates.<\/p>\n
Why heated debates? Because the factions at the Assembly were
\nstill divided on many issues related to the general elections
\nnext year, and on whether the Assembly should issue a decree to
\nwarrant investigation into corrupt and nepotistic practices
\nduring former president Soeharto's 32-year administration.<\/p>\n
Debates are also expected when the legislators deliberate an
\nAssembly draft decree seeking to maintain the presence of the
\nArmed Forces in the House of Representatives as well as the
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
Poedjono Pranyoto, chairman of the Assembly's Working
\nCommittee, acknowledged the question of Armed Forces (ABRI) in
\nthe legislative bodies had been a source of controversy
\nnationwide following the revelations of military atrocities under
\nSoeharto's New Order regime.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI has defended its renewed role in politics while many
\ngroups in society have called for an end to it. The 1,000-member
\nAssembly is expected to make a wise decision on the fate of
\nABRI's dual function,\" said Poedjono, who is also a retired Army
\nmajor general.<\/p>\n
Chozin Chumaidy of the United Development Party (PPP) vowed
\nhis faction would continue its fight against ABRI representation
\nin the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\"We never understood why ABRI was represented in the
\nlegislative bodies and played such an important role in the
\nadministration since it was set up to deal with defense and
\nsecurity affairs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Andi Matalatta, the chairman of Golkar faction in the House,
\nbegged to differ. He said it was \"too dangerous\" to ask ABRI
\nForces to withdraw completely from the legislative bodies.<\/p>\n
\"The withdrawal should be gradual and in phases. We still need
\nthe military in the legislature ... though their number should be
\nreduced,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Andi argued the military was needed there to prevent the
\nbodies from launching a coup, especially during the current
\nchaotic political situation.<\/p>\n
The House currently allocates 75 seats to the military, but
\nwas now discussing a reduction to 55.<\/p>\n
Are there areas where the legislators have agreed during their
\npreliminary sessions in September?<\/p>\n
Yes, Poedjono said. All of the five Assembly factions -- ABRI,
\nGolkar, PPP, Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), and Regional
\nRepresentatives -- were of the same opinion that the polls next
\nMay or June should be run by an independent committee and held on
\na holiday in a fair and democratic manner.<\/p>\n
\"The general election should be fair and democratic in order
\nto improve the image of the House\/Assembly and to elect a
\n'legitimate president' in the Assembly's 1999 general session,\"
\nsaid Poedjono, who is also deputy Assembly speaker.<\/p>\n
The factions have also agreed to let the House deliberate the
\nfine points and technicalities of matters pertaining to the
\ngeneral elections in their reading of three political bills.<\/p>\n
Status<\/p>\n
Poedjono said Assembly decrees have unique status in the legal
\nsystem because they are inferior to the 1945 Constitution but
\nsuperior to laws, government regulations and presidential
\ndecrees.<\/p>\n
\"Firstly, I must stress that MPR decrees have their own
\nquality and status as compared to laws and regulations,\" he said.
\n\"As the highest state institution, the Assembly issues
\ndecrees ... which are general in nature. Those decrees must be
\nimplemented by the government.<\/p>\n
He said only the People's Consultative Assembly has the
\nauthority to amend the Constitution and issue decrees, while the
\nlower House of Representatives is in charge of legislation and
\nconducting judicial reviews.<\/p>\n
Accountability<\/p>\n
The Assembly Ad Hoc Committee I -- which was in charge of
\npreparing and deliberating the draft decrees in September's
\nsessions -- has agreed on the need to issue a decree on clean
\ngovernance.<\/p>\n
This particular decree, however, was a replacement of the
\npreviously sought proposal to investigate Soeharto's fortune and
\nthat of his cronies, as well as to demand that he be held
\naccountable. This motion was initiated by PPP, PDI and Regional
\nRepresentatives factions.<\/p>\n
The dominant Golkar and ABRI refused the proposals, arguing
\nthat the issue was under the aegis of the Attorney General's
\nOffice.<\/p>\n
Syamsul Ma'arif of Golkar said the issue of the New Order's
\ncorruption could be brought to the special session but no special
\ndecree was needed to regulate it.<\/p>\n
PPP, PDI and Regional Representatives factions have said that
\nthey would again raise the issue in the special session, citing
\npublic expectation that the government investigates Soeharto, his
\nfamily and cronies in business and administration.<\/p>\n
The three factions said they would still demand Soeharto's
\naccountability for his three-month administration from March 11,
\n1998 before he resigned on May 21, 1998.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the draft decree on clean governance stipulates a
\nproportional share of power among all state institutions,
\nincluding Assembly and the House to prevent a centralization of
\npower, corruption, collusion and nepotism.<\/p>\n
It stipulates all government officials, including presidents
\nand vice presidents, disclose to the public their personal wealth
\nand have it audited by an independent institution to be
\nestablished by the president.<\/p>\n
The following are the other draft decrees to be read and
\nadopted by the Assembly:
\n * Draft decree on the amendment of Assembly's internal rules
\nwhich seeks to introduce substantial changes in the body if the
\nplanned separation of its leadership from the House materializes.<\/p>\n
If endorsed, the decree would ensure that the Assembly's
\nWorking Committee will work throughout its five-year tenure
\nrather than for only three months as it did in the past.
\n * Draft decree on separation of Assembly leadership from the
\nHouse's which is aimed at empowering both houses. All of the five
\nfactions agreed on the motion.<\/p>\n
\"The current single leadership of the two state institutions
\nhas in fact been manipulated by the New Order regime to turn the
\nbodies into mere rubber stamps,\" said Poedjono, who was twice
\ngovernor of Lampung under Soeharto. \"The proposed decree would
\nprevent such a situation in the future.\"
\n * Draft decree to lift the 1983 Assembly decree on referendum
\nopens the possibility of amending the 1945 Constitution in the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n
Poedjono said ABRI -- which had in the past been campaigning
\nagainst changes to the Constitution -- had agreed to submit the
\ndecree for deliberation at the Assembly's special session.<\/p>\n
\"The ABRI faction finally agreed with the draft decree on the
\ncondition that no changes to the Constitution will be proposed
\nduring the special session, nor should there be any motion to
\nreplace the Pancasila state ideology with another,\" he said.
\n * Draft decree on development reform guidelines will replace the
\nBroad State Guidelines (GBHN) adopted during the March 1998
\nGeneral Assembly and was meant to stay in place until 2003.<\/p>\n
\"This new guideline, known as mini GBHN among legislators,
\nwill stipulate important issues in political, economic, legal and
\ncultural fields that the government must observe during this
\ntransition period from November 1998 until the Assembly's General
\nSession in December 1999,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the mini-guideline is focused on economic reform to
\nhelp defuse the crisis.
\n * Draft decree to lift the 1998 decree on the granting of an
\nextraordinary power to president, which was proposed by the PPP,
\nPDI and Regional Representatives factions who argued that a
\npresident did not need any extra power in running the
\nadministration, has won the support of Golkar and ABRI.<\/p>\n
Reliable sources said Golkar contrived to give birth to the
\nMarch 1998 decree in order to provide Soeharto with extraordinary
\npower so he could crush all movements against his regime.
\n * Draft decree to lift the 1978 Assembly decree on Propagation
\nand Implementation of Pancasila was proposed to stop the current
\npropagation programs which critics said were not effective in
\nraising people's awareness of the state ideology.
\n * Draft decree on the limitation to presidential and vice
\npresidential terms of office was proposed to avoid
\nmisinterpretations of the Constitution's article on the subject,
\nand to boost democratization.<\/p>\n
The PPP and PDI factions -- which proposed the draft decree
\nand won the other factions' support -- argued that Article 7 of
\nthe 1945 Constitution had been abused by Soeharto to perpetuate
\nhis power and thus weaken democracy throughout his
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
Soeharto had maintained his post for seven consecutive five-
\nyear periods although the Constitution limited the presidential
\nand vice presidential terms to only two five-year terms of
\noffice.
\n * Draft decree on regional autonomy was proposed to give
\ngreater autonomy in politics and financial management to regions.<\/p>\n
Din Syamsuddin, deputy chairman of the Golkar faction at the
\nAssembly, said the draft decree -- proposed by PPP, PDI, Regional
\nRepresentatives and Golkar factions -- was aimed at giving a fair
\nshare between the central government and regional administration
\nin natural resources.<\/p>\n
\"In the past, the exploitation of natural resources in regions
\nor provinces had benefited only the central government and failed
\nto improve people's welfare.<\/p>\n
\"For example, Aceh, Riau, South Sumatra and Irian Jaya which
\nare rich with natural resources such as oil, gas, copper and gold
\ndeposits, should enjoy a larger share of the profits from mining
\nactivities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is unfair and ironic that the Irian Jaya provincial
\nadministration, for example, has been given only one percent of
\nthe profit PT Freeport Indonesia gained from its copper and gold
\nmining activities in the province,\" he said.
\n * Draft decree on human rights was proposed by the PPP and PDI
\nfactions, and won the support of the other factions.<\/p>\n
\"Human rights became urgent because of the rampant violations
\nespecially in Aceh, Java, East Timor and Irian Jaya in the past,\"
\nsaid Ismunandar of PDI.<\/p>\n
Chosin hailed the draft decree because it gives instructions
\nto authorities to respect and uphold human rights.<\/p>\n
The draft decree also recommends the House to establish a law
\non human rights and on the role of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights so it has greater authority in carrying out its
\nmission.<\/p>\n
Chosin said his faction failed to introduce such a decree in
\nthe Assembly's General Session last March because ABRI and Golkar
\nfought it.<\/p>\n
\"There will be no democracy without human rights and, in the
\nfuture, all individuals and groups in society should be
\naccustomed to differences of opinion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
*Draft decree on politics in democratic economy was proposed
\nto promote a people-oriented economy and small- and middle-scale
\nenterprises, prevent a concentration of wealth in the hands of a
\nsmall group of people and to narrow disparities in society.<\/p>\n
The draft decree bans monopolies. It also stipulates the
\ncentral bank's independence and regulates foreign loans by the
\ngovernment and the private sector.<\/p>\n
According to the draft decree, foreign loans by the government
\nmust get approval from the House and the government is obliged to
\nmonitor foreign loans by the private sector so that they will not
\noverburden the people.<\/p>",
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