No party offers comprehensive legal plan<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
None of the 24 political parties contesting the April 5 elections
\noffered comprehensive programs to encourage the rule of law or
\nuphold justice, an activist says.<\/p>\n
Mas Achmad Santosa, of the non-governmental organization, the
\nPartnership for Governance Reform, said some parties appeared to
\nhave no idea at all about the importance of reforms to the legal
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
\"Most parties offered nothing new and many mentioned legal
\nreforms that state institutions and nongovernmental organizations
\nare already working on. This proves clearly the parties drafted
\ntheir platforms on legal reform without proper study,\" Santosa
\ntold a group of politicians during a discussion here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Santosa said some parties had promised to set up an
\nanticorruption commission, which already existed.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated the Corruption
\nEradication Commission (KPK) late in December last year. Dubbed a
\n\"super commission\" it has extraordinary powers to investigate and
\nprosecute alleged corrupters.<\/p>\n
The partnership has set a six-point legal reform agenda:
\noverhaul of the prevailing legal paradigm, legal and legislative
\nreform, judicial reform, legally enforced reform, court
\nsettlements of all corruption cases and human rights violations
\nand the institutionalization of law.<\/p>\n
Santosa said only one of the 24 parties expressed the
\nintention to shift the country's existing legal paradigm, which
\nemphasizes excessive legalism (concentration on the letter of the
\nlaw) over the public sense of justice.<\/p>\n
Regarding legal and legislative reform, only 15 of the 24
\nparties had reform programs, he said.<\/p>\n
Fourteen parties mostly focused on court settlements of
\ncorruption and human right violations, with three of them
\nemphasizing a strong judicial institution specialized in handling
\ncorruption cases, one demanding a people's tribunal for
\ncorrupters, one proposing a special court to try corrupters and
\none suggesting corruption be declared an extraordinary crime,
\nSantosa said.<\/p>\n
Instead of responding to the partnership's challenge, Eros
\nDjarot from the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK) and Ali
\nMasykur Musa from the National Awakening Party (PKB) shifted the
\nblame to Megawati's government.<\/p>\n
\"The present reality shows that the laws are made to be
\nviolated. Even the president fails to set a model for the public
\non how to respect the law,\" Eros said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a Golkar deputy leader, Bomer Pasaribu, questioned
\nthe validity of the partnership's data. Golkar had outlined a
\ncomprehensive plan for legal reforms, he said.<\/p>\n
The discussion was held ahead of the Third Law Summit here
\nscheduled for April 8, where the country's law enforcement
\ninstitutions are expected to sign an agreement on how to uphold
\nthe supremacy of the law and eradicate corruption.<\/p>\n
It will be attended by officials from the Supreme Court, the
\nAttorney General's Office, the Ministry of Justice and Human
\nRights, the National Police, the National Law Commission, the
\nKPK, and the National Development Planning Coordinating Board.<\/p>",
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