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)