Presidential powers to pack more punch<\/p>\n
By Pandaya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The country's highest lawmaking body, the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly, is set to beef up the already
\npowerful presidential powers despite fierce opposition from
\nseveral quarters.<\/p>\n
The five factions in the 1,000-member Assembly, dominated by
\nPresident Soeharto's supporters, will formally approve the
\ncontroversial decree drafted by the government-backed Golkar
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
The President, without prior consultation with the House of
\nRepresentatives, will have the right to take any extraordinary
\nmeasures he deems necessary to safeguard development and the
\nnation's integrity.<\/p>\n
The President would report on his action only after order was
\nrestored, according to Moestahid Astari, a Golkar senior
\nlegislator involved in the decree's deliberation.<\/p>\n
Human rights advocates and intellectuals have voiced fears
\nthat the decree could be used to silence government critics and
\nsuppress peaceful protests.<\/p>\n
The decree comes into effect as the country deals with a
\nsevere economic crisis which has triggered food riots and
\nantigovernment student demonstrations in major cities across the
\ncountry. At least five people have been killed in separate
\nincidents in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
The economic turmoil that began last July worsened after the
\nInternational Monetary Fund would not endorse President
\nSoeharto's intention to set up a currency board system.<\/p>\n
Chief of sociopolitical affairs for the Armed Forces, Lt. Gen.
\nYunus Yosfiah, said here Friday that the widespread student
\ndemonstrations were \"worrying\".<\/p>\n
Unless controlled, he warned, they could develop into violence
\nlike the July 27, 1996, riot that followed a raid on Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters by a
\ngovernment-backed breakaway faction.<\/p>\n
The authorities have brought numerous people critical of the
\ngovernment to court on charges of defaming President Soeharto.
\nAmong the best known are former legislators Sri Bintang Pamungkas
\nand Aberson Marle Sihaloho.<\/p>\n
In a recent incident, three members of a group of housewives
\nwere arrested for protesting on a main Jakarta street about
\nrising prices of basic commodities. They are currently on trial
\non charges of illegal demonstration and disrupting public order.<\/p>\n
In the latest case, the hard-hitting Deteftif dan Romantika is
\nin trouble for depicting President Soeharto as a king of spades
\non its cover.<\/p>\n
Its editor-in-chief Margiono has been summoned by police to
\nexplain the picture. Last week, the Indonesian Journalists
\nAssociation suspended him for two years.<\/p>\n
Tight-lipped<\/p>\n
Assembly members have been tight-lipped about the draft, which
\nis said to be an amendment of a decree made for Soeharto by the
\n1966 Provisional Assembly. It was abolished in 1993.<\/p>\n
When a foreign journalist asked Marwah Daud Ibrahim, a Golkar
\nlegislator, to describe the power that the decree would give to
\nthe president, she said: \"It's a special power, but nobody knows
\nwhat kind of power this is.\"<\/p>\n
Soeharto himself asked for the decree's revival. He made the
\nrequest when addressing the 500 legislative candidates in Bogor,
\nWest Java, last year. Golkar and ABRI campaigned to grant the
\nPresident's request, despite initial weak resistance from the
\nUnited Development Party.<\/p>\n
Sudomo, a longtime Soeharto confidant who chairs the Supreme
\nAdvisory Council, has assured that the decree will not
\nnecessarily mean the government intends to revive the Operational
\nCommand for the Restoration of Security and Order he chaired in
\nthe 1970s.<\/p>\n
The command was established to put out major political unrest
\nduring that decade.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces Chief Gen. Wiranto said Saturday many people were
\nwrong to believe that the decree would empower the President
\n\"unlimited\" authority.<\/p>\n
\"The allegation is untrue,\" he said after attending a session
\nat the Assembly.<\/p>\n
The President, he added, would be required to consider Many
\nfactors before he uses the authority, such as the prevalent laws
\nand human rights principles.<\/p>\n
Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of
\nIndonesia, speculated the extra powers would include the right to
\ndissolve the Assembly, the House, political organizations and
\narrest people considered to be jeopardizing the nation.<\/p>\n
\"It empowers the President to take over all state authority if
\nthe President thinks the state is in jeopardy,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"He may make the best use of it, in the name of national
\ninterest, if, for example, foreign pressure on the government
\nover whatever issue is mounting, or millions of people take to
\nthe street to protest against the government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Other outspoken academics, including constitutional law expert
\nHarun Al Rasyid and political observer Deliar Noer, also sounded
\nobjections soon after Soeharto's request was backed last August.<\/p>\n
They insisted the decree would make it appear the country was
\nan unsafe place to live, and argued that preemptive measures
\nagainst subversive activities were dealt with in the 1963
\nSubversion Law.<\/p>",
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