Don't' delay MPR session, experts say

JAKARTA (JP): Law and political experts have warned that a delay to the scheduled General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November would wreak havoc to political life.

Constitutional law experts Sri Soemantri and Satya Arinanto, and political observers Hermawan Sulistyo and Marsilam Simanjuntak were contacted by The Jakarta Post separately on Saturday and Sunday, and concluded the postponement was politically motivated.

They commented on President B.J. Habibie's signal on Friday that the session to elect a president and vice president would be moved to December due to delayed subsequent stages of the June 7 polls.

"The plan justifies suspicion once aired by proreform figures that the general election was not a way out of the nation's plight because it did not meet the requirement for impartiality," Hermawan said.

He said the delay could pose a threat to national unity as well as economic recovery, which many have said relied much on political stability.

"One month of uncertainty will lead to long consequences, ranging from sporadic mass brawls between supporters of rival political camps to the withdrawal of foreign investors," he said.

The other three experts accepted the delay due to various obstacles in the organization of the general election, which precedes the session, but said one month was too long.

Habibie was quoted by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Abdul Gafur as saying that the anticipated delay of the General Session was based on the General Elections Commission's (KPU) decision to postpone the induction of DPR/MPR members.

In its letter to the DPR secretary-general dated June 18, the KPU said the first stage of the MPR session would begin on Oct. 1 following the induction of the 700 members of MPR. Members of the law-making body will reconvene to elect a president and endorse decrees deliberated during the first phase of the General Session.

The highest legislative body comprises 500 DPR members plus 135 regional representatives and 65 appointees representing various interest groups.

"I suspect that the planned delay of the MPR General Session is part of efforts to foil the event itself," Soemantri of the Bandung-based Padjadjaran University's School of Law said.

Satya, secretary of the University of Indonesia's School of Constitutional Law, said the planned delay was part of efforts to help incumbent Habibie win his full term.

Hermawan agreed and added that ruling Golkar Party, which is almost certain to suffer an unprecedented loss at the polls, would benefit from the delay the most, at the expense of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which on Sunday still led the ballot count.

"Golkar, which has already named Habibie its presidential candidate, can buy time to seek more support," he said.

Satya said a delay should not exceed two weeks.

"In order to avoid a delay, the government and the KPU can shorten the period to be spent for administrative scrutiny of the House, Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD I) and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD II) members," he said.

Marsilam concurred, saying there were many alternatives to help the KPU and government cope with technical difficulties stemming from the slow vote count without having to delay the General Session.

After addressing a seminar on the post-election period he said he found the planned delay represented a "tug of war" between opposing interests in the presidential election.

Habibie took over from Soeharto, who resigned on May 21 last year. The MPR certified Habibie's position in a Special Session of the 1,000-member MPR in November, also last year.

State budget

Hermawan said a delay would play havoc to the government plan to change the start of the fiscal year back to Jan. 1 from April 1.

"The government will have no time to draw up the state budget. More dangerously, if Habibie wins the presidential election, his government will face a deadlock in the deliberation of the state budget proposal at the DPR, which will see the opposition party prevail," Hermawan said.

According to law, the government is allowed to readopt the previous state budget if a new one is undecided. "But it is too risky because the assessment in the 1999/2000 state budget will not fit economic assumptions for next year," he warned.

Soemantri, Satya, and Marsilam criticized the government for attributing its plan to delay the MPR General Session to the KPU's decision to postpone the announcement of the poll results.

"What the government needs to do is to find ways to complete the national vote count and announce the poll results on time," Soemantri said.

The KPU is scheduled to announce the general election results on Thursday.(imn/amd)