Akbar has different stance on police chief's dismissal

JAKARTA (JP): House of Representatives Speaker (DPR) Akbar Tandjung has taken a different stance from most House members over President Abdurrahman Wahid's decision to dismiss National Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo.

Akbar said on Tuesday that the President should have explicitly notified the House before replacing the police chief, but added that he could understand Abdurrahman's move because of the situation.

"I can understand the President's dismissal of Rusdihardjo due to the current security situation," he told journalists at the DPR complex.

He remarked that Abdurrahman called him in Singapore on Sunday evening and told him of his plans.

"Gus Dur said the decision was taken, among other things, after the series of bombings in the city," Akbar, also chairman of the Golkar Party, said.

He said the President thought that Rusdihardjo's reaction to the bombings had been ineffective and slow.

Akbar suggested that the President should send an official letter of notification to the House about Rusdihardjo's dismissal.

Paragraph 3 of Article 7 of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No. VII/2000 on the role of the Indonesian Military and the National Police stipulates that the installment and dismissal of the National Police chief requires the House's approval.

The Assembly held a leadership meeting on Tuesday that concluded that Rusdihardjo's dismissal had breached the decree.

"It's clear that the dismissal violated the MPR decree," Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, who is also chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said.

The meeting was not attended by the body's two deputy speakers, Ginandjar Kartasasmita of the Golkar Party faction and Matori Abdul Djalil of Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party (PKB) faction.

Amien said the President should have understood and obeyed the MPR decree as it was the second highest law after the 1945 Constitution.

He, however, called on the nation to forgive Abdurrahman, saying anyone can make a mistake.

"Our nation is still in the learning process of democracy.

"As long as he (Abdurrahman) realizes his mistake and decides not to continue making other ones ... our democracy will become more mature," Amien said.

Meanwhile, observers on Tuesday said they supported the President's decision to sack Rusdihardjo.

Sociologist Imam Prasodjo from the University of Indonesia, Surabaya-based sociologist and political observer Daniel Sparingga and political observer Andi A. Mallarangeng all said that Rusdihardjo's dismissal was acceptable given the situation.

They were interviewed on the sidelines of a seminar on democratic consolidation organized by the school of social and political sciences of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University.

Mallarangeng said the President's step could be considered an emergency measure to respond to unresolved security problems and Rusdihardjo's failures to carry out his job.

He even criticized the Assembly for designing a decree that could hamper the President from performing the executive's task effectively and efficiently.

He suggested that there should be a consensus between the President and the House on the interpretation of the MPR decree, which would allow the President to take emergency action, including the option to dismiss high-ranking officials, without the House's approval.

But, he said the President should secure the House's approval before assigning new ones.

Imam Prasodjo said that the current procedure as stipulated in the MPR decree was too time consuming for the President in emergency conditions.

"It will take too long for the President to deliberate dismissing the National Police chief with the House of Representatives when sudden developments require immediate measures," he said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Sparingga said Abdurrahman's decision reflected the President's disappointment and frustration over the police's failure to become a credible law enforcement institution.

However, he said that the police were not the only party to blame.

"We should realize that the police's capacities to cope with the huge problems in the country are very limited," he said. (44/jun)