Legislators seek clarification over vice presidential decree
Legislators seek clarification over vice presidential decree
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several members of the House of Representatives have demanded
that the legislature summon President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
clarify the controversial issuance of a vice presidential decree
on the Aceh relief operations.
The lawmakers submitted a petition to House Speaker Agung
Laksono on Monday for the House to summon the President.
They said the law does not recognize any decree issued by the
vice president, and that Susilo should therefore appear before a
House plenary session to explain the matter.
"It is a blunder on the part the government ... The President
must provide an explanation to the House," said Djoko Edhie
Sutjipto of the National Mandate Party (PAN) during a meeting
with Agung in Jakarta.
Djoko was accompanied by Helmy Faishal Zaini and Choirul
Sholeh Rasyid of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Aria Bima
of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The petition was signed by a total of 15 House members.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla has been under fire since issuing a
decree on the establishment of a national team to handle
emergency relief operations for victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake
and tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra.
State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said last week that
Kalla's instruction was "unconstitutional" because the President,
not the Vice President, had the authority to issue such orders.
Djoko Edhie said the issuance of the decree was a "serious
mistake" that must be explained to the House by the President.
Agung Laksono said the petition would be brought to a House
plenary meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
At the plenary meeting, the House Secretariat will inform the
legislators about the petition. The House's steering committee
will then set a schedule to discuss the petition.
President Susilo is scheduled to hold a consultation meeting
with Agung, his deputies and House Commission leaders on Tuesday
to discuss post-tsunami issues.
The meeting will not discuss the proposed petition or the vice
presidential decree.
Susilo ordered on Sunday the reorganization of the National
Coordinating Agency for Disaster Relief and Refugees (Bakornas
PBP), which is led by Kalla. The agency has been criticized for
poor coordination in the relief work in Aceh.
Observers have interpreted these recent developments as signs
of cracks in the relationship between Susilo and Kalla, who was
recently elected to replace Akbar Tandjung as the leader of the
Golkar Party.
The signatories of the petition did not demand that Kalla
appear with Susilo before the House to answer questions about the
decree.
Aria Bima, who was among the signatories, said the legislators
fully supported relief operations for tsunami victims across Aceh
and North Sumatra.
However, he said, the House had the responsibility to
supervise the policies of the government.
"We are taking this action because we see something wrong with
the government. It would be naive if legislators just kept
silent," Aria said.
This is the second times House members have proposed to summon
President Susilo. The first time was when legislators wanted an
explanation from the President over his pledge to support the
investigation into the death of human rights campaigner Munir
from arsenic poisoning.