Habibie-Soeharto proximity 'will change' RI politics

Habibie-Soeharto proximity 'will change' RI politics

JAKARTA (JP): Should B.J. Habibie be elected vice president,
his close ties to President Soeharto will change the country's
political constellation, two observers believe.

Constitutional law expert Mahfud M.D. of the Yogyakarta-based
Indonesian Islamic University and former Golkar legislator
Marzuki Darusman both said that the proximity might make it
easier for Soeharto -- whose reelection is almost certain -- to
share his duties with Habibie.

"It will convince him (Soeharto) to give Habibie more tasks
than he gave to the previous vice presidents," Mahfud said.

The post of a vice president has so far been largely
ceremonial under Soeharto, causing some people to sneer at his
deputies as mere "spare tires."

Mahfud explained that the perceived idleness of the vice
president had become the political reality of the New Order
administration under Soeharto.

In the Old Order under founding president Sukarno, he said,
the vice presidency was a strategic position. This was
illustrated by the way people called Sukarno and his first vice
president Mohammad Hatta dwitunggal, or two but one.

"Hatta was given the right to make important decisions at that
time," he said.

One of the most important decisions made by Hatta on behalf of
Sukarno was the issuance of Vice Presidential Decree No 10 on
Oct. 16, 1945. The document established the newly founded
National Committee of Indonesia as Indonesia's first legislative
body since its independence two months previously.

Habibie's proximity to Soeharto, according to Mahfud,
resembles that of Hatta and Sukarno. He concluded that it would
be possible for the two to develop another dwitunggal model of
government, should they become Indonesia's next president and
vice president.

"The timing is perfect, too, as the 1998/2003 presidential
term is widely supposed to be the last term for Soeharto. Given
this situation, the vice president needs to have his duties
expanded," he said.

Tasks which could be delegated to the next vice president
include those related to international relations, coordination
jobs which in the past were given to coordinating ministers, and
the deliberation of legislation with the House of
Representatives.

Marzuki, who is also deputy chairman of the National
Commission on Human Rights, was not as optimistic as Mahfud. But
he believed that Habibie's proximity to Soeharto would produce
positive political change.

"Habibie will play as another door, besides Soeharto, to the
political communication channel through which people can pass
inputs," he said.

But whether these inputs would be reflected in the outputs "is
another question," Marzuki added. (swa)