Bill on presidency defies Constitution

Bill on presidency defies Constitution

JAKARTA (JP): Constitutional law expert Sri Soemantri said on
Saturday the bill on the presidency being deliberated on by the
House of Representatives was unlawful as it was against the 1945
Constitution.

"A president's authority and tasks cannot be regulated by a
law or a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree as chapter
four of the Constitution clearly stipulates that they are
regulated by the Constitution itself," Soemantri told The Jakarta
Post by phone.

He said the president, as head of government and head of
state, was in a higher position than the House.

"According to the presidential system, a president is powerful
and has greater authority than the legislature. We have to bear
in mind that a president has full authority over administrative
and state affairs as this is stipulated in the Constitution," he
said.

If the House wants to reduce the president's power, it can do
so by amending the Constitution through the Assembly, but not by
drafting a law on the presidency, he added.

Soemantri said the House could use its rights to prepare a
bill on presidential and vice presidential codes of conduct as
this was stipulated in the Constitution.

He said he was invited by the House to deliberate on the bill,
but he turned down the offer because the bill would be against
the Constitution.

"However, factions in the House have misinterpreted, due to my
absence in several sessions, that I agree with this bill," he
said.

He criticized the legislative body for committing numerous
violations of the Constitution during the 32-year New Order era.

He said during the era, former president Soeharto's regime and
the legislative body passed many laws that were against the
Constitution and which disrupted the national judicial system.

"But, the present government and the House are doing nothing
to correct the judicial system," he said.

He suggested the government and legislative body not be
trapped in their own political interests.

"Laws should comply with the Constitution and be free from
political interests," he said.

Similarly, legislator Aberson Marle Sihaloho of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said the bill was
being deliberated on because of the escalating tension between
President Abdurrahman Wahid and the legislative body.

He said the bill was opposed by some legislators, but the
House decided to continue with the deliberation.

"The House is probably trying to reduce presidential powers to
the minimum to topple the President," he told the Post.

He criticized the bill which stated that the vice president
took charge of the day-to-day administration, saying that this
was against the Constitution.

"The bill is based on the 2000 MPR decree on the delegation of
the Abdurrahman Wahid's day-to-day administrative duties to Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, but the Constitution explicitly
stipulates that the vice president only assists the president,"
he said.

He said if the bill was passed it would be a serious problem
to the next president who most likely would not be physically
handicapped.

Hartono Mardjono, a law expert and member of the House's
Commission II for home and legal affairs, conceded that he had
opposed the bill but could not do anything to prevent his
commission from deliberating on it. (rms)