Don't' delay MPR session, experts say

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)