Gus Dur has 'no basis' to dissolve House
Gus Dur has 'no basis' to dissolve House
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid does not have a
strong constitutional basis to issue a decree to dissolve the
House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly, a
cabinet minister said on Tuesday.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who
is a Constitutional Law expert, said the current security
situation in the country cannot be used as constitutional grounds
for the President to issue such a decree.
"There are no fundamental grounds and no state of civil
emergency in the country; so constitutionally the President
cannot issue such a decree," Yusril told journalists, adding that
issuing such a document would be unconstitutional.
Yusril stressed that the country has had only one such example
of a presidential decree, issued on July 5, 1959 when former
president Sukarno dissolved the then parliament called the
Constitutional Body, whose main job was to draft the country's
constitution. At that time, the country was not in a state of
civil emergency, yet, the issuance of the decree could be
considered legal and constitutional because Sukarno was able to
defend his decision, Yusril said.
"If Gus Dur issues such a decree without any security reasons
but can defend himself this could be considered legal. But if he
fails to do so then the issuance could be considered as a
'coup'," Yusril remarked, referring to Abdurrahman by his
nickname.
The minister was commenting on Abdurrahman's off-the-record
statement in front of several chief editors of local newspapers
and news agencies on Saturday during a post-fasting gathering at
Bogor presidential palace.
The President's statement came amid heated tension between
himself and the House due to the investigation of his alleged
involvement in two financial scandals.
However, due to a technical misunderstanding on the part of
Antara news agency, the statement came out in public and created
debates over his intention to dissolve the House.
Separately, the House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
Tandjung refused to comment on Abdurrahman statement about
dissolving the House, saying that the truth of the statement
should be verified first.
He further said that so far the House has never violated the
constitution in performing their duty so there is no reason at
all for the President to dissolve the House or the People's
Consultative Assembly.
Constitutional Law expert Jimly Asshidiqie dismissed such a
possibility saying that the President has an equal position as
the House, so according to 1945 Constitution both state agencies
cannot topple each other.
Jimly stressed, as reported by Satunet.com that Abdurrahman
should not even consider issuing a presidential decree on the
House dissolution. (dja)