MPR defends special decree on economic recovery

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Responding to the criticism of economists, members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) said on Wednesday a special decree on economic recovery provided sufficient guidelines for the government to accelerate the recovery process.

"The decree contains recommendations about what the government should do in specific areas of economic recovery, such as foreign debt and privatization," Potsdam Hutasoit, the deputy chairman of the Assembly's second ad hoc committee for the drafting of MPR decrees, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He reasoned that recommendations in the decree should not be too specific because important steps in the economic recovery had already been established in the 1999/2004 State Policy Guidelines.

"(I)n the decree, we are just highlighting several things that the government must do," Potsdam, who is from the largest faction in the MPR, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, added.

Discussion of the special decree on economic recovery will be one of the focuses of the Assembly's Annual Session, which will take place from Aug. 1 through Aug. 10.

The decree is meant to be a blueprint of comprehensive economic guidelines for economy recovery.

Economists, however, have criticized the draft as being "too general and lacking in clear-cut guidelines", which they say could lead to misinterpretation and abuse by vested political interests.

Potsdam argued that the decree was simplified with a view toward the fourth amendment of the 1945 Constitution, which, if passed, would mean the MPR would no longer be the state's highest lawmaking body.

"If that happens, then the MPR will not have the right to make decrees ... so, eventually, the decree (on economic recovery) would be annulled," he said.

The Assembly rejected the draft decree when it was first proposed at the 2001 Annual Assembly, saying passing such a decree on economic recovery was not an urgency.

But the MPR later issued a decree assigning an Assembly working committee to study the draft, which was proposed by a group of economists from the New Indonesian Alliance, led by noted economist Sjahrir.

Potsdam said the decision to continue discussion of the decree was made at the suggestion of some members of the working committee, who supported its passage.

However, he did not give details on which factions on the committee supported or opposed the decree.

After a year of study, the MPR finalized the draft decree, which has five policy principles, ranging from improvement in the coordination between related state institutions to improving the infrastructure of the domestic economy.

It also has four policy recommendations, including pushing the country's political rulers to prioritize economic recovery; establishing a clear-cut delegation of authority between the government, the House of Representatives and the central bank; and pushing for immediate action from the President and state institutions to accelerate economic recovery.

Elsewhere, Sofjan Wanandi, the chairman of the National Economic Recovery Committee, joined in the chorus of criticism of the decree.

From the point of view of the country's business community, Sofjan said the MPR decree was "half-heartedly drafted" and would not help further the country's economic recovery.

He said the decree should contain clear measures that addressed the issues, and specific targets to be achieved.

"With clear measures and specific targets, we could gather all the resources for economic recovery," he told the Post.