Baramuli enters debate over necessity of DPA
Baramuli enters debate over necessity of DPA
JAKARTA (JP): In response to suggestions that the Supreme
Advisory Board (DPA) should be dissolved, chairman A.A. Baramuli
said he would not mind if the people's representatives decided
the body was no longer needed.
The board had been very important as an advisor to the
president, he said on Thursday. He cited as example that in 1977
former president Soeharto requested the board chairman lead an
investigation into allegations of corruption at the state-run oil
company Pertamina.
"But if analysis from universities, such as that conveyed by
the rector of Gadjah Mada University, says the board is no longer
needed, (this must be discussed).
"Of course this needs to be settled according to the
Constitution and be decided through the People's Consultative
Assembly," Baramuli said, as quoted by Antara.
"And I don't mind if the board is dissolved by the peoples'
representatives," he said.
On Wednesday the rector of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
University, Ichlasul Amal reiterated suggestions that
the board should be dispersed because it was ineffective and
overlapped with other state agencies.
The suggestion was one of the political recommendations raised
last month by the university's team of political scientists,
including Ichlasul himself.
Constitutional experts Harun Al Rasid of the University of
Indonesia and Andi Muis of Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang,
also told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the board was no longer
needed.
Muis said the board had lately become a government mouthpiece,
citing Baramuli's defense of President B.J. Habibie's much-
criticized presentation of a state award to his own wife in
August.
Political scientist Arbi Sanit said the board's frequent
statements had led to "unhealthy political pressure."
Before former president Soeharto resigned, the board "only
justified anything the president wanted," Arbi said.
He did not suggest scrapping the board altogether, but said it
should be made subordinate to the president. This, he said, would
"simplify the political game".
The board's latest controversial statement was made on
Wednesday when Baramuli said "stern action" should be immediately
taken against ringleaders or those found funding demonstrations
which could disturb the peace or disrupt the economy.
Ichlasul remarked that such statements "only hurt the people"
in the midst of their new-found freedom.
Baramuli said that the board existed in the first place
"because of the wish of the people," and that the People's
Consultative Assembly would decide which agencies were no longer
needed.
A former member of the National Commission for Human Rights,
Baramuli described the board's importance, adding that former
president Sukarno once led the board himself. Now, he said, "in
my opinion the government of President B.J. Habibie also needs
the Supreme Advisory Board."
Harun Alrasid acknowledged the board was mentioned in the 1945
Constitution but said it did not mean its existence was
compulsory.
"Even if a state agency is in the Constitution, its formation
depends on whether it is needed or not," Harun said, quoting the
late legal professor Supomo, one of the Constitution's drafters.
The Constitution states that the board functions as advisor to
the president.
Harun suggested that the president's advisors should not be
institutionalized, citing Habibie's advisors on economic affairs
Frans Seda, Widjojo Nitisastro and Ali Wardhana.
He added that the position of vice president is in the 1945
Constitution but was unfilled at present. (01)