Change of president

Change of president

From Merdeka

H.M. Soeharto finally stepped down from his presidential post
on May 21, following weeks of student demonstrations demanding
reform in all fields -- economy, politics, law and social and
cultural affairs, as well as Soeharto's resignation as president
of the republic.

Then, based on article 8 of the 1945 Constitution, Soeharto
transferred his post to Prof. Dr. B.J. Habibie. This transfer of
the presidential post is, to my mind, not correct because article
8 says: "If the president passes away, quits or is unable to
perform his/her responsibility during the term of office, the
president shall be replaced by the vice president until the term
of office comes to an end."

This suggests that the vice president continues the governance
together with the same cabinet instead of taking over the
president's job. However, the cabinet can be reshuffled if any of
its members is viewed incapable or unsuitable, but no new cabinet
can be formed.

A presidential election should be based on article 6 of the
Constitution which says: 1. The President must be an indigenous
Indonesian national; 2. The President and the Vice President are
elected by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) through
majority of votes.

Based on this stipulation of the Constitution, I am of the
opinion that the President must be elected through a general
session of the MPR.

To avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the
articles concerned, I hope law and political scholars can give
explanations. My generation is not familiar with this case. If
the wrong implementation of the Constitution is justified, it
will be a precedent for future generations.

H. DADI HERYADI

Depok, West Java