1,002th suggestion

Now that 1,001 suggestions have been put forward by people of various backgrounds, I would like to introduce mine, which I'll call the 1,002th suggestion. While the 1,001 suggestions have been made known simply as people's participation in the freedom of expression cause, my suggestion does differ from all others.

As we have only limited time at our disposal in which we must implement total reform with the establishment of a government free from corrupt, collusion and nepotism, I suggest that this total reform begin with a referendum in which the Indonesian people directly elect their president and vice president. Arrangements may later be made to ensure that this referendum is constitutional.

The following are my suggestions about how the referendum should be held:

As the leadership of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)/House of Representatives (DPR) was not involved in the transfer of the presidency from H.M. Soeharto to B.J. Habibie, the leadership of the MPR/DPR may announce that the present government is a transitional one and that Habibie is only an acting president, not a full president/mandate-holder. This transitional government could be assigned to tackle crucial economic problems and organize a referendum. Immediately after this announcement, the political activities of MPR/DPR could be suspended while these two institutions put things in order as a prerequisite for the establishment of a government free from corruption, collusion and nepotism. I believe the leadership of the MPR/DPR is constitutionally vested with the power to put right Habibie's oath taking by the Supreme Court.

Then Habibie administration and its apparatuses could open up opportunities, for a certain span of time, for any Indonesian citizen to nominate himself as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia. A presidential candidate need not be supported by the masses. The most important thing would be that he fulfills the requirements. Aside from the requirements set by the law, a candidate should also draw up a curriculum vitae, in particular mentioning all his assets, along with a certificate certifying that they were acquired not through corruption, and his complete family tree, several removes above, below, to the right and to the left. These presidential candidates should also be required to write brief outlines of their programs. In this way, only those fulfilling these tight requirements could join the presidential race.

The data of all presidential candidates should then be made known to the public, who would have one month prior to the referendum to consider their choice.

A candidate collecting the most votes would be the president and the one securing the second biggest number of votes the vice president.

Afterward, the MPR, now relatively free from elements of corruption, collusion and nepotism, could resume its activities. It would install the president and the vice president, who would be in office until 2003. The president would then form his cabinet. Later, failed presidential candidates along with the MPR/DPR and the new government would work together to revise the 1945 Constitution by supplementing a provision on a referendum, which would be retroactive and contain provisions about the referendum already held in addition to a stipulation that there be no further referendums.

Then the new government, the MPR/DPR and the failed presidential candidates should work again together to draft laws about organizations participating in the general election, the general election itself, the composition of the new MPR/DPR, etc. A general election should be held in 2002, as stipulated in a prevailing MPR decree.

My suggestions above may save time and money and ensure that our political system is revamped in an orderly manner without causing national disintegration.

I believe the 1945 Constitution will remain sacred despite any revisions. In fact, the present differences of opinions in our society have come about because the Constitution is not perfect. As for a supplementary provision on the referendum, which would be retroactive and not forward looking in its vision as no future referendums would be allowed, this is all right because even the preamble of the 1945 Constitution and a number of its articles are basically concerned with the shift from colonial times to Indonesia's independent era.

ATTILA RAHAYOE

Bekasi, West Java.