1. COURT (4 X 12)

1. COURT (4 X 12)

Judges of
new court's
credibility
questioned

Law experts have questioned the credibility of judges of the
newly established Constitutional Court due to a hasty process of
the judges selection and the endorsement of the Constitutional
Court bill.

"We are now in the situation of like possessing cats in a bag
as fit and proper test of the judges was carried out in a very
short time," a noted legal expert Todung Mulya Lubis told the
Jakarta Post on Monday.

Thus, it is inevitable that the Constitutional Court has
several judges that are affiliated with political parties, but
public can not examine their independence from those parties,
according to him.

"If we have enough time to carry out fit and proper tests,
public will be able to test the judges political stance. With
that, we can force them to step down in the future if they break
their statement," he said.

Todung claimed that political interests had too much burdened
the selection of the Constitutional Court judges, prompting the
selection process was less credible.

"It is very difficult to maintain public confidence of the
Constitutional Court," he said.

Harun Al Rasyid concurred with Todung. Harun said that many
had asked him about the Constitutional Court judges reputation,
but he only knew few of them.

"Who are these judges? Do they have knowledge on Constitution
Law and State Administrative Law ?," he said.

Harun said the problem emerged due to poor selection process
and legal flaws in the Constitutional Court Law.

According to him, the Constitutional Court Law is violating
the amended 1945 Constitution as it limited the age of judges of
between 40 and 67, while the Constitution did not stipulate such
a criteria.

The Constitutional Court, which consists of nine judges, has a
number of powerful authorities, including reviewing laws against
the amended 1945 Constitution, recommending an impeachment of the
president, dissolving political parties, and resolving dispute on
general election result.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri just installed on Saturday
the nine judges after a quick selection from the government, the
House of Representatives and the Supreme Court.

Each institutions had power to select three judges
respectively.

The House, for example, named constitutional law expert Jimly
Assiddiqie (affiliated with Golkar party), former House
legislator Achmad Rustandi (affiliated with the United
Development Party) and People's Consultative Assembly legislator
I Dewa Gede Palguna as the Constitutional Court judges.

However, the House had only conducted fit and proper tests for
two days on last Wednesday and Thursday.

The government also selected three judges: Achmad Syariffudin
Natabaya of the state University of Sriwijaya, Mukti Fajar of the
state University of Brawijaya and Haryono of the regional
representatives faction at the People's Consultative Assembly
(affiliated with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle).

But the government also failed to carry out an open fit and
proper tests in a limited time.

The remaining three judges that hailed from the Supreme Court
choice are Laica Marzuki, Sudarsono and Muarar Siahaan, who are
all the High Court judges.

Besides the hasty selection of the judges, the Constitution
Court Law also possessed problems on its content as it was only
deliberated by the House in one and half months before its
endorsement two weeks ago.

President Megawati signed the court bill several days later,
passing the bill into a law.

2. NATION (2 X 21)

Scholar says RI suffers
from nationalism crisis

Almost 60 years after it declared independence in 1945, Indonesia
still suffers from a nationalism crisis, which could lead to
disintegration, a prominent scholar says.

Azyumardi Azra, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State
Islamic University, said over the weekend that Indonesia had to
embark on a campaign of multicultural education in order to cure
the nationalism crisis and prevent the country from breaking up.

Speaking at a seminar entitled Ethnic Chinese and the Politics
of Multiculturalism here on Saturday, Azyumardi said the crisis
had long plagued the country and became serious during the
leadership of former president Soeharto, although it was quelled.

During his 32-year reign, Soeharto adopted monoculturalism at
the national level by putting Javanese culture above all others,
and thus creating animosity among the thousands of other ethnic
groups in the archipelago, Azyumardi said.

Ethnic acrimony came to a head in the form of many violent
clashes between Javanese and non-Javanese after Soeharto's iron-
fisted regime collapsed -- and with it the oppressive control of
society -- in May 1998.

"The end of the New Order era provided an opportunity for a
counter-reaction," Azyumardi wrote in his paper presented during
the seminar, which was organized by the Institute for Social and
Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) on Saturday.

Azyumardi, however, was not present at the seminar, which was
held in conjunction with the nation's 58th independence
anniversary on Sunday.

According to Azyumardi, the counter-reaction manifested itself
in demands by many ethnic groups/regions to separate from
Indonesia after they felt that they had been treated as second-
class citizens for more than 30 years.

He said Soeharto imposed his brand of the much-hated
monoculturalism on regions and through his centralization policy,
wherein natural resource revenues were essentially stolen by
Java, while the local people in those regions became desperately
poor.

Provincialism and discrimination against other ethnic groups
in the recruitment of regional government posts has become a
common practice since the reform movement started in 1998, a
phenomenon that could lead to the disintegration of the nation,
said Azyumardi.

He also stated that separatism was a fact that Indonesia would
have to deal with in order to prevent a total break up.

In addition to possible solutions such as granting greater
autonomy, Azyumardi proposed in his paper that Indonesia should
introduce and promote multicultural education, so that people
would accept differences and respect each other.

According to Azyumardi, the concept of multiculturalism could
foster cooperation among people and encourage them to negotiate
any differences so that there would no longer be conflicts among
them.

Azyumardi said such a campaign should be started now with the
younger generation via formal and non-formal education
nationwide, so that it could create a sense of belonging, for the
younger generations, to Indonesia as a nation and state.

3. DROUGHT (2 X 24)

Govt allots Rp1 trillion
for farmers, villagers

The government will channel Rp 1 trillion (US$117.6 million)
beginning September to farmers and peasants, who are affected
most by the current drought, Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Monday.

"Priorities and the form of labor intensive program assistance
will be discussed during a coordination meeting between the
coordinating ministry for people's welfare and governors in
Jakarta on Tuesday," Jusuf Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying
after visiting dry paddy fields in Karawang regency, Purwakarta,
West Java on Saturday.

The minister did not say where the government would take the
money from but assured that the House of Representatives (DPR)
had approved the disbursement of the funds to help farmers and
peasants who experienced crop failure due to prolonged drought.

The labor intensive programs will include repairing irrigation
canals and tree planting along water catchment areas (DAS) so
that more water would be preserved during the rainy season and
prevent flash floods.

"Plant seeds are ready; farmers and peasons need only to plant
them, for which they will get paid," Jusuf Kalla said.

The government would also sell rice to farmers and peasants at
Rp 1,000 per kilogram. The cheapest rice available in the market
costs Rp 1,800 per kilogram.

During his visit, Jusuf Kalla, who was accompanied by Minister
for Restlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno, State
Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim, and West Java
Governor Dany Setiawan, also officiated one Water Treatment Unit
worth Rp 2.5 billion in Balong Gandu village, Karawang. Some
3,000 families are to benefit from the unit.

Jusuf Kalla said the drought had caused crop failure in some
rice-producing areas on Java, affecting national rice supply.

"This year's drought hits rice-producing areas and it will
definitely affect national rice supply, aside from triggering
clean water scarcity and reducing purchasing ability among
farmers," said the minister.

4. REMISI (2 X 18)

5,000 inmates freed
on Independence Day

Independence Day was certainly liberating for some inmates of the
country's prisons. Over 5,000 of them were granted the remission
of their sentences, and set free on Sunday, in line with
celebrations.

The Minister for Justice and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, said 5,175 inmates ended their prison terms upon
receiving the remission. But, a total of 43,475 inmates
throughout the country were granted remission by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri. The remaining 38,300 inmates will still
have to serve the rest of their sentences, the minister said.

"The remissions are expected to make all -- especially the
prisoners -- appreciate the freedom of every individual," he told
reporters after the remission-granting ceremony in Paledang
prison in Bogor, West Java.

Presently, there are 85,149 inmates in correctional centers
across the country.

Convicts who show good conduct while serving their sentences
may be granted a remission, on one of two occasions each year.
One on independence day, and the other on either (religious
holiday), Idul Fitri or Christmas.

Among the recipients of the remission are timber tycoon
Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, and former president Soeharto's son Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra, who are imprisoned in Nusakambangan
prison-island.

Hasan's jail sentence is cut by seven months and 20 days,
while Tommy's by four months and 15 days.

The remission, however, eludes the "smiling bomber" Amrozi,
who was recently sentenced to death by the Denpasar District
Court for his complicity in the deadly Bali blast.

An official said that a person who has just been sentenced to
death is not entitled to be granted remission, but he or she
could ask for a Presidential clemency as a last resort.