The Supreme Court's ambiguous ruling<\/p>\n
The long-awaited decision has been given. The Supreme Court,
\nthe highest judiciary authority in this country, has, as was
\nexpected, delivered an ambiguous ruling. It returned to Habibie
\nthe right the decide whether Cabinet ministers should be allowed
\nto campaign for parties contesting the upcoming general election.
\nAs regards the General Elections Commission, the Supreme Court
\nhad courage enough to bar commission members from either
\ncampaigning or nominating themselves as candidates for the
\nlegislature.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court, which people have often accused of being
\ninsensitive to the state of justice in this country, smoothly
\nlisted all the laws, chapters and articles relevant to the
\nconsiderations underlying its ruling. As far as those
\nconsiderations concerned aspects of legal logic and terminology,
\nthe Supreme Court did indeed sound quite judicious in formulating
\nits decision.<\/p>\n
In the name of our shared aspiration for a fair and honest
\nelection, we commend the Supreme Court for barring members of the
\nGeneral Elections Commission from campaigning -- even though
\nPresident Habibie earlier had allowed them to do so. If those
\nchampions of justice on the Supreme Court also had barred Cabinet
\nministers from campaigning, President Habibie certainly would
\nhave thought a thousand times before rejecting such a ruling.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court, in this case, not only showed itself
\ninsensitive to the people's cry for justice; this country's last
\nbastion of justice also showed that it still sees itself as a
\nservant to those in power. The Supreme Court, which should have
\nshown us there are limits to the powers of a president, instead
\nstrengthened the old concept that a president's powers are
\nunlimited.<\/p>\n
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-supreme-courts-ambiguous-ruling-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }