Amien suggests Mega's successor be non-Javanese

JAKARTA (JP): Should Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri take the country's helm if President Abdurrahman Wahid resigns or be impeached by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), her successor should be elected from among non-Javanese leaders, MPR speaker Amien Rais said on Wednesday.

"It would be better if we (the MPR) nominate non-Javanese leaders, such as pak Akbar or pak Hamzah to be the next vice president," Amien said as quoted by constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

Amien was referring to House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung and chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) Hamzah Haz, who hail from North Sumatra and South Kalimantan, respectively.

The former minister of justice and human rights met Amien at the latter's office to discuss the constitutional mechanism for a transfer of power in the country.

A Javanese-non-Javanese pairing of state leaders has been a repeated theme in the country's presidential history.

First president Sukarno, who had Javanese blood, was assisted by Mohammad Hatta from West Sumatra, while Adam Malik and B.J. Habibie, two of the five vice presidents under second president Soeharto, who is also Javanese, originated from North Sumatra and South Sulawesi respectively.

Yusril, also chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), said Presidential Decree No. 121/2000 on the delegation of power by the President to the Vice President would remain in force and could not be annulled as it was issued in compliance with an MPR decree.

The legal basis for this decree was Assembly Decree No. 8/2000, which was issued after the Assembly's annual session last August and stipulated that the President should delegate responsibility for the day-to-day running of government to the Vice President, .

"When a president resigns or is removed from office, the vice president succeeds to the office of president. The Assembly then has to choose a new vice president, while all the existing regulations remain in effect," Yusril said.

He stressed that Assembly Decree No. 2/2000 on the assembly's internal regulations stated that the assembly should elect a new vice president to fill the vacant office in such circumstances.

"So, we cannot just leave the office of vice president vacant as was the case under former president B.J. Habibie's leadership," he said.

Following the House's censure of Abdurrahman on Feb. 1 over his alleged involvement in two financial scandals, the House is now likely to issue a second memorandum of censure, which is one step away from a special session of the Assembly.

Most House factions have expressed their support for Megawati to lead the country if Abdurrahman resigns or is removed.

This is true even of the loose coalition of parties known the Axis Force which prevented Megawati, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) won the June 1999 elections, from acceding to the presidency, preferring to help Abdurrahman become president instead in October of the same year.

Separately, a PDI Perjuangan legislator, Jacob Tobing, said that Yusril's interpretation of the decree was misconceived as a presidential decree was a unilateral decision of the president and, therefore, could be revoked by the president.

"We may express our support if all the factions agree that we should strengthen the delegation of power from the president to the vice president. But, this arrangement should be applied only if the president is Abdurrahman Wahid and the vice president is Megawati," he told The Jakarta Post.

On PDI Perjuangan's stance over the President's reply to the House's first memorandum, Jacob said the party would likely agree to the issuance of a second censure.

Meanwhile, the former chairman of the Association of University of Indonesia Alumni (Iluni), Hariadi Darmawan, said on Wednesday that the statement of the Interest Groups Faction on Megawati's failings was meant to play Gus Dur off against Megawati.

"The President regretted the statement issued by the Interest Groups faction as he considered the meeting to be an academic forum," Hariadi told reporters after meeting the President at Merdeka Palace.

He said the President's clarification of the issue had received a positive response from Megawati.

"Mas (older brother), please be careful. Both of us are being used against each other," the President quoted Megawati as saying, as related by Hariadi. (dja)