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)