Debate intensifies on Habibie's 'impeachment'

Debate intensifies on Habibie's 'impeachment'

JAKARTA (JP): The road is open for the country's highest law-
making body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to bring
impeachment proceedings against President B.J. Habibie for his
conduct in the tapped phone conversation with Attorney General
Andi M. Ghalib. As of Tuesday, however, the viability of
impeaching the President was still being debated.

Senior constitutional law expert Ismail Suny acknowledged the
option but cited the impracticality of such a proceeding, while
the House of Representatives (DPR) Deputy Speaker Hari Sabarno
argued against it.

According to Hari, the DPR could only impeach the President if
it believed his policies were flawed, but "just a case" would not
do for the DPR to start the impeachment ball rolling.

But former legislator Sutradara Ginting and leading rights
campaigner Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI) urged the DPR to initiate an impeachment.

Ginting said the "scandalous" conversation had shown that the
President took a discriminatory stance. In the recorded
conversation he had called for a speedy prosecution of his
political opponents -- businessmen Sofyan Wanandi and Arifin
Panigoro -- while making clear his wish that former president
Soeharto be protected.

"The DPR must subpoena the President to formally explain the
problem," said Ginting, the director of the Institute for Policy
and Community Studies (IPCOS) who is also a deputy chairman of
the Justice and Unity Party.

By law, the DPR can call on the MPR to hold a special session
to impeach the President if it found the President's explanation
unacceptable. The DPR could do this if the President failed to
respond to at least two of its memorandums, Ginting explained.

Hendardi went further by calling on the MPR to establish a
special commission to investigate Habibie's alleged abuse of
power.

"The investigation must be conducted fairly and in an open
manner, under the supervision of an independent body like the
United Nations if necessary. If later proven guilty, President
Habibie must face dismissal," he said.

Hendardi believed the information uncovered in the phone-
tapping incident was a threat to the country's transition to
democracy. He said the President's alleged power abuse warned of
a return to Soeharto-type authoritarianism.

"It's because authoritarianism and human rights violations
during Soeharto's rule stemmed from power abuses.

"We must ensure that in the future... the power of the
President or the head of state must be clear cut, so the position
of the President... will not be abused for the political
interests of the individual who holds (the position)," Hendardi
said.

Suny ruled out a dismissal because of the impracticality of
the lengthy legal process, especially so close to the June 7
general election.

"For me, this (tapped conversation) is a small problem," Suny
said.

He said that, as the attorney general's superior, the
President was in a position to give orders.

Hari argued it would not be necessary for Habibie to come
forward and explain the scandal to the legislature as he could
always appoint one of his aides to do it.

"Only after the relevant Commission finds the answer
unsatisfactory could that Commission ask DPR leaders to summon
the President himself," Hari said.

Suny said it would be "politically impossible" for the DPR to
initiate impeachment proceedings as the majority of the 500-
strong DPR was dominated by Golkar -- Habibie's staunch
supporter.

"This is a reality," Suny said.

Refuting the fact, Ginting -- himself a former Golkar
legislator with the House's Commission I for political affairs --
said that the DPR would be showing the public it was "Habibie's
DPR instead of the people's DPR" if it decided in this manner.

"The nation needs a credible president... no more lies,
Indonesians have had enough... and now the government's
credibility is crashing," Ginting said.

Separately on Tuesday, Teten Masduki of the Indonesian
Corruption Watch (ICW) said the scandalous tapped conversation
showed Habibie government's "double-face politics" in fighting
corruption.

"Habibie's government is still part of the corrupt Soeharto
regime and thus can not be trusted by the people to produce the
clean government and good governance demanded by the people,"
Teten said. (aan)