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)