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)