What should a Vice President do?<\/p>\n
By Akmal Djamaran<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A daily newspaper once regarded as a staunch
\nsupporter of Megawati Soekarnoputri and her nationalist party,
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
\nrecently published an article with a cartoon entitled Megawati
\nCuma Ngekor (Megawati only tails after the President). Both the
\ncartoon and the article could be considered as a kind of
\ntaxpayers evaluation on the vice president's job performance.
\nAlthough the evaluation was part of press freedom, the way the
\ncartoonist caricatured Megawati was not in accordance with
\nIndonesian standards.<\/p>\n
Rakyat Merdeka, the daily in which it appeared, apologized for
\nthe cartoon following protests from the public. However, both it
\nand the article highlighted a problem regarding the role of the
\nvice president.<\/p>\n
The 1945 Constitution is silent on vice presidential duties,
\nstating only that the VP will assist the president. So, different
\npresidents assign different duties to the vice president.
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur as he is popularly known,
\nhas stated that Megawati, among other things, would handle
\nefforts to seek solutions to the problems in Irian, Maluku, and
\nRiau provinces, while he would deal with Aceh. Everyone knows
\nthat this is a very difficult task, even for the president.<\/p>\n
The disclosure of vice presidential duties in this way
\nindicates that Gus Dur wants Megawati to take on a bigger role in
\nthe government, not just as a \"spare tire\". Gus Dur and Megawati
\nhave even been dubbed as dwitunggal, the spirit of two in one,
\nlike their predecessors Sukarno and Hatta. But despite pressure
\nfrom many social and political groups that Megawati act quickly
\non Ambon, the Vice President has been very slow to act. She did
\neventually go to Ambon, but accompanying the President.<\/p>\n
When Gus Dur announced the Vice Presidents's duties, he did it
\nwith hope and good intentions. But the public, especially
\nMegawati's rivals, were too quick to evaluate the things that she
\nhad not done. Given the nature of politics, even if Megawati had
\ndone a very good job, her rivals would still say she had failed.
\nIt is understandable, therefore, that Megawati has been very
\ncautious in executing her duties. No vice president next in line
\nto become president would ruin his or her chances by acting
\ncarelessly.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it would be better if vice presidential duties were
\nnot made public. Let the president take responsibility for the
\nwhole business of government. Even if the vice president fails,
\nhe or she cannot be fired, but this does not mean that the vice
\npresident should do nothing.<\/p>\n
We in Indonesia are very familiar with political terminology
\nfrom the United States, such as \"checks and balances\", \"term
\nlimits\" and \"judicial review\". So why not learn something from
\nthe U.S. vice presidency? It is true to say that most U.S. vice
\npresidents are not highly respected by the people or even by the
\npresident. The vice presidency, someone said, was God's way of
\npunishing bad campaigners. Another said that the vice president
\nwas a professional mourner.<\/p>\n
But certain U.S. presidents have tried to improve the role of
\nthe vice president, without specifically mentioning his or her
\nduties. A 1993 article in The International Herald Tribune said
\nhow important vice president Al Gore was for President Clinton.
\nIt recounted that Al Gore was in Texas campaigning for Senator
\nBob Krueger. Gore made a stop at a preschool where his aides
\nwaited impatiently for a very important facsimile from the White
\nHouse. It was a speech to be given by Clinton the next day that
\nthe president wanted the vice president to review.<\/p>\n
The article did not say what Gore added to or deleted from the
\nspeech, so the public could not evaluate Gore's role as Clinton's
\nadviser. Anyhow, all credit and blame belonged to the boss. Al
\nGore cannot be blamed for his advice because Clinton may have
\naltered the draft himself or may have entirely forgotten about
\nit.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, President Clinton informed the U.S. public and
\nthe world that his vice president is an important man. This helps
\ncreate a positive image for Al Gore if he becomes president,
\neither in the case of Clinton's removal from office -- remember
\n\"Monicagate\" and the impeachment -- or if he wins the
\npresidential election in November 2000.<\/p>\n
There are many ways to create the impression that a vice
\npresident is doing a good job, without exposing him or her to
\npublic criticism. President Jimmy Carter told everyone at the
\nWhite House that they had two bosses, himself and his vice
\npresident Walter Mondale. Paul C. Light writes in his 1984 book,
\nVice-Presidential Power that Mondale had an open invitation to
\nevery Cabinet meeting and access to the president's daily
\nbriefing. In Cabinet meetings, Carter was also respectful toward
\nhis vice president and asked his advice on important issues.<\/p>\n
Mondale enjoyed his role as an adviser to President Carter and
\nused the vice presidency as his training ground: He contested
\nRonald Reagan in the 1984 presidential race.<\/p>\n
Light wrote that George Bush also played an advisory role when
\nhe was vice president under Reagan, after which he was elected
\npresident after Reagan's second term. This advisory role helps
\nU.S. vice presidents make their term in office a training ground,
\nsomething which was true for Mondale, Bush and Gore.<\/p>\n
Light writes that an adviser must be ready to advise and must
\ntherefore have capable staff. He or she would need time to digest
\ninformation, time to talk with the president, time to sculpt
\narguments, time to build advisory networks and time to answer
\npolicy questions.<\/p>\n
Megawati, perhaps, cannot expect Gus Dur to support her as a
\nfuture president, because Gus Dur himself may want a second term,
\nand they come from different political strongholds. If this is
\ntrue, Megawati cannot expect Gus Dur to assign her duties for
\ntraining purposes. But, at least, we could amend the 1945
\nConstitution, to the effect that both the presidential and vice
\npresidential candidate must belong to the same political party.<\/p>\n
With the President and the Vice President coming from
\ndifferent parties -- Megawati from the PDI Perjuangan and Gus Dur
\nbeing the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- we are
\nnow very close to a situation that Americans wanted to avoid with
\nthe 25th Amendment. The amendment was proposed to eliminate the
\npossibility of a double vacancy in the office of president and
\nvice president, which could led the U.S. speaker of the house --
\nwho might be from an opposition party -- to become president.<\/p>\n
With the amendment, in the case of the office of the vice
\npresident becoming vacant, the president nominates someone to
\nreplace the vice president, and the House and the Senate vote on
\nthe nominee. Political science expert Richard M. Pious wrote,
\n\"Had the amendment not been in effect the Democratic house
\nspeaker would have been in line to succeed the presidency during
\nthe Watergate crisis\".<\/p>\n
At that time of crisis, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were
\nU.S. president and vice president. While Nixon was still in
\noffice, Agnew resigned on charges of tax evasion and accepting
\nbribes while he was a Baltimore county executive and a governor
\nof Maryland. Nixon nominated Gerald Ford, a fellow Republican and
\nHouse minority leader, as vice president. Ford later succeeded
\nNixon when the latter resigned after the House Judiciary
\nCommittee recommended articles of impeachment. The 25th Amendment
\nwas, indeed, a good piece of anticipation.<\/p>\n
In our current situation, Megawati would become president if
\nthe office was vacant. But a possible political problem might
\narise because she belongs to a different party, and because she
\nlost the presidential election at the People's Consultative
\nAssembly. If Gus Dur and Megawati were from the same party and if
\nthey ran as a ticket, Assembly members who chose them would be
\nfully aware that they also chose a vice president who would
\nbecome president when the office was vacant.<\/p>\n
The writer is a graduate from the University of Indonesia's
\nSchool of Law. As a journalist, he attended a 1991 summer school
\nat The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University,
\nMassachusetts, U.S.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-should-a-vice-president-do-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}