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.