Excerpts of the 12 draft decrees endorsed by MPR session

JAKARTA (JP): The following are excerpts of the 12 draft decrees adopted by the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on Friday.

* The decree on the amendment of the Assembly's internal rules stipulates that following the planned elections in mid 1999, the Assembly will choose its own leaders who will be separate from those of the House of Representatives.

In the past, Assembly leaders automatically held top posts in the House.

The Assembly leadership will consist of a speaker and a maximum of five deputies picked from political parties with large numbers of seats and in accordance with the "national political configuration".

The decree also makes it obligatory for the president to attend a session to hear the Assembly's respond to his or her speech of accountability. In the past the president's presence at this session was not compulsory.

* The decree to revoke the 1983 Assembly decree on referenda opens the wider possibility of amending the 1945 Constitution in the future. According to the 1983 decree, followed up by the 1985 Law on Referenda, a referendum must be held before the Assembly can review the Constitution.

* The decree to revoke the March 1998 decree on the State Policy Guidelines (GBHN) adopted during the General Session of the Assembly in March. It was replaced by a scaled down document to cover the period up to the Assembly's next general session, which is due in the middle of next year.

* The decree to revoke the 1998 decree granting the president extraordinary powers, which in March handed then president Soeharto the right to declare a state of emergency and to do anything necessary to maintain security and stability in the country.

* The decree to revoke the 1978 Assembly decree on the Propagation and Implementation of Pancasila (P4) rules that the government must stop the compulsory P4 propagation program. During Soeharto's 32 year tenure, the program was compulsory for students, government officials and workers in the private sector.

The Assembly also added a chapter to the original draft decree on the right to information.

* The decree on general elections was adopted after a vote in Friday's final plenary session.

With the new decree, the Assembly agreed that a general election will be held by next May, or June at the latest. It also stipulates that the election will be organized by a independent election committee whose members will comprise of representatives from political parties, non-governmental organizations and the government.

* The decree limiting the presidential and vice presidential terms in office stipulates that both president and vice president can only hold office for a maximum of two five-year terms.

According to Chapter 7 of the Constitution, the president and vice president hold office for an initial term of five years, after which they can be reelected for an indeterminate number of times.

Sukarno and Soeharto, the country's two previous presidents, held office for 22 years and 32 years respectively.

* The decree on the principles of developmental reform in light of safeguarding and normalizing life in the nation will serve as the broad outline of state policy for President B.J. Habibie's government until the next general session of the MPR, which will convene in mid-1999.

The decree stipulates the objectives of developmental reform in economic, political, legal, social and cultural fields.

In the economic field, the decree stipulates that the current economic crisis must be resolved and that reform measures must support efforts to this end.

The agenda for management of the economic crisis is very similar to the program of reform already agreed to with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It includes a number of unquantified targets such as stabilizing the rupiah's exchange rate at a reasonable level, managing interest rates and inflation, bank restructuring, food security and resolution of the private sector debt problem.

The reform agenda embodies the structural reform measures already adopted within the IMF bail-out program.

The political reform agenda covers the promulgation of new political laws which are conducive to fostering the process of democratization and will facilitate the convening of a fair, direct and free and general election by secret ballot in mid- 1999. It also includes provisions to check government power, introduce good governance and adjust the military's dual function in accordance with its new paradigm.

The agenda for legal reform deals with how to create a clear- cut division of authority between the judicial and executive branches of the government and contains clauses designed to ensure supremacy of the law and protect basic human rights.

The most notable points on the agenda for socio-cultural reform are the social safety net programs covering education, employment and health, and the preparation of legal instruments, an infrastructure and programs of action to foster ethics in business, professions and public administration.

* The decree on the administration of regional autonomy, management, distribution and harnessing of natural resources in a just manner to strike a fiscal balance between provincial administrations and the central government within the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

This decree stipulates that the administration, distribution and exploitation of natural resources shall be conducted in a just manner to improve the welfare of local people and the nation as a whole.

The fiscal balance between the central and provincial governments is to be set with respect to the potential, size and population of each province and local people's income levels.

* The decree on human rights requires that all state institutions enforce and esteem and that the president and the House of Representatives (DPR) ratify all of the United Nations (UN) conventions on human rights.

It requires the issuance of a law to give the National Commission on Human Rights the legal authority to monitor and report on the implementation of human rights conventions. The current Commission was established by presidential decree in January 1994.

In July, President B.J. Habibie instigated a five-year National Action Plan on Human Rights in an attempt to improve Indonesia's much condemned international image on rights issues.

The government has yet to ratify several UN treaties, including the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

* The decree on good governance free from corruption, collusion and nepotism instructs the government to investigate and deal firmly with former and incumbent government officials -- including former president Soeharto -- their families and cronies as well as businesspeople suspected of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

The decree stipulates that officials shall publicly disclose their wealth before and after their appointment and shall be willing to have their wealth audited by an institution set up by the head of state to perform this task. The institution will be staffed by representatives of the government and the people.

The decree also requires amendment of the anti-corruption law to enhance the drive to combat graft.

* The decree on political economy within economic democracy stipulates, among other things, that:

National economic development is designed to create a broad base of small and medium-scale enterprises (SME) and to foster mutually-beneficial linkages between cooperatives, SMEs, large companies and state enterprises.

The implementation of economic democracy shall seek to avoid the concentration of economic assets and forces in the hands of a small number of people and companies.

Cooperatives and SMEs, as the main pillar of national economic development, shall be given as many opportunities, incentives and assistance as possible, without ignoring the role of big business and state enterprises.

National land use shall be organized in a just manner and the concentration of land use rights and land ownership in the hands of a few individuals or companies shall be prevented in light of efforts to enhance the strength of cooperatives, SMEs and the people at large.

Banks and financial institutions shall give top priority to cooperatives and SMEs while continuing to work within the principle of sound business management.

Bank Indonesia as the central bank shall be independent and free of interference from the government and all other parties and shall be accountable for its conduct.

Foreign borrowing by the government shall be approved by the House of Representatives within the annual state budget and foreign debts shall strengthen, and not burden, the national economy.

The private sector shall be fully responsible for its foreign borrowing, but the borrowing shall be closely monitored by the government in a transparent manner.

Economic democracy for workers shall be brought about through labor participation and freedom of association in line with the law and through issuing shares in the ownership of employing enterprises. (team)