Legislator questions policy of presidential decrees
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)