Change to law on presidency opposed

JAKARTA (JP): Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono and former vice president Sudharmono are opposed to proposals for a law to regulate the presidential institution.

They argue that the 1945 Constitution and the People's Consultative Assembly decrees pertaining to the presidential institution are clear enough, and the brewing debate on the need for the law is pointless.

"Let's follow the constitution. Besides the written laws, Indonesia also has unwritten conventions on presidency," Moerdiono was quoted as saying by Antara.

Debates about the need for a law on the presidential institution usually rage ahead of a presidential election. The upcoming presidential election is scheduled for March 1998.

Prior to the 1992 election, chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) incurred President Soeharto's wrath for proposing that presidential terms should be limited to two.

The 1945 constitution states that the President is elected for a five-year term of office, and can be re-elected.

The debate centers around whether the constitution suggests the president can be re-elected by the People's Consultative Assembly many times, or only once.

Concerns that the current ruling on the presidential institution gives unlimited authority to the head of state were unfounded, said Moerdiono.

The House of Representatives supervises the President, he said.

"If the House is of the opinion that the President has violated the constitution and failed to implement the guidelines of state policy, it may ask the People's Consultative assembly to demand the President's accountability," he said.

The 1945 Constitution allows for a strong and stable government. Fears that those demanding the new law intend to weaken the presidential institution only undermines stability, he said.

Sudharmono, who was vice president from 1988 to 1993, said that he does not want to see any changes to laws on the presidential institution.

"I personally believe that what we practice now is in accordance with the constitution," Sudharmono told reporters after addressing a seminar at Pancasila University.

Sudharmono currently chairs the Advisory Council on Propagation of state ideology, Pancasila.

The constitution not only regulates the presidential institution, but also sets criteria on the presidential candidate, he said. (pan)

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