Legislator questions policy of presidential decrees
JAKARTA (JP): A legislator yesterday questioned the wisdom behind the government's decision to issue presidential decrees, bypassing the House of Representatives, in preference to legislation which the House must approve.
Anak Agung Oka Mahendra, of the ruling Golkar faction, during a parliamentary hearing with Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, said the number of presidential decrees far exceeds that of government regulations.
Moerdiono, while saying that he would take note of Oka's point, gave his assurances that all presidential decrees are intended to complement existing laws, rather than simply legitimizing anything the bureaucracy likes to do as some people suspect.
The government carefully considers all relevant socio- political aspects before drafting a presidential decree, Moerdiono said during a hearing with Commission II which deals with domestic affairs.
None of the thousands of presidential decrees had been made without considering relevant laws, he said. "If there are one or two decrees perceived to have weaknesses, it must be because our capability as human beings is limited."
Presidential decrees are issued to provide detailed guidelines for the implementation of the laws passed by legislature, he added.
Statistics at the state secretariat disclosed by Moerdiono show that of the 12,517 regulations passed since Indonesia gained independence in 1945, 7,937 were presidential decrees, 476 presidential instructions, 2,454 government regulations and 978 laws. The rest are mostly laws and regulations passed during the Sukarno administration, including 179 martial laws.
"What's the criteria that qualifies something to be regulated by a presidential decree?" Oka asked. "There is an impression that anything can be regulated by a presidential decree."
He said a presidential decree should be issued only for special matters as required by the rules made by the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) in 1966, which is the legal basis for issuing presidential decrees.
He warned that loopholes in some presidential decrees could backfire on the government. He cited as an example this month's lawsuit against President Soeharto by 11 non-governmental organizations, which are disputing his decree allowing the use of Rp 400 billion ($190 million) in government reforestation funds to finance the state-owned aircraft industry (IPTN).
"We don't want to see officials tampering with the court's independence if the case is brought to court," Oka said.
Moerdiono said the President plans to meet with the NGOs in the State Administrative Court and will not interfere with the legal process. "The President has seen the charges, so let's see if the court will consider the suit valid," he said.
The NGOs spearheaded by the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said the presidential decree issued in June violated previous regulations on how the funds should be used.
A number of outspoken NGOs also have spoken out against a plan to issue a presidential decree to regulate their activities, stressing that they will only accept being regulated by a law issued by the House of Representatives. (pan)