Observers suggest presidential term limitation

Observers suggest presidential term limitation

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) should issue a decree that would limit the presidential
tenure to only two terms when they convene in March, observers
recommended at a seminar yesterday.

Political observer Johanes Kristiadi and constitutional law
expert Harun Alrasyid agreed that restrictions were needed to
prevent a president from exercising his or her power beyond
control.

"The Assembly as the highest state institution has the right
to interpret the constitution's stipulation on presidential
tenure, thanks to the maturing democracy in the country," said
Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Both Kristiadi and Harun, who spoke at a seminar held by the
Christian Student Movement, agreed that the 1945 Constitution's
stipulation on presidential tenure had caused controversy because
it allowed a president to serve indefinitely.

The 1945 Constitution only says that a president serves for a
five-year term and can be reelected.

Kristiadi interpreted the 1945 Constitution as clearly
restricting the presidential tenure to only two terms, but Harun
said the document gave no limitation as to how many times a
president could be reelected.

The 1,000-strong Assembly, which will be installed next
Wednesday, will endorse the State Policy Guidelines and elect a
president and vice president during its five-yearly general
session in March.

Incumbent President Soeharto, who took office in 1968, looks
certain to take his seventh successive term. He is only
Indonesia's second president after the late Sukarno who served
after the country gained independence in 1945.

Harun said the term limitation, if passed, would affect
presidents after Soeharto.

"Indonesian people have always expressed their respect of
their presidents by awarding them long tenures," Harun said.

The Provisional Assembly issued a decree in 1963 that named
Sukarno president for life. Under the New Order, the Assembly has
reelected Soeharto every five years since 1973.

Harun said he was skeptical that a decree to limit the
presidential term would be feasible here.

"I agree with Siswono Yudohusodo who suggests a constitutional
convention that restricts a president's tenure to only two five-
year terms," Harun said.

Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo said at a
seminar here last month that Indonesia could adopt a convention
to allow a president to serve a maximum of 10 years in the post-
Soeharto era.

Efforts to limit a president's tenure were made during the
Assembly's first general session in 1973, but failed.

Kristiadi said a president was provided with excessive but
constitutional power ranging from setting up laws to appointing
personnel of state institutions of equal rank before the 1945
Constitution.

Indonesian laws allow a president to name House of
Representatives legislators, members of the Assembly and
chairpeople of the Supreme Court and Supreme Audit Agency.

Kristiadi said the country's political culture confirmed the
President's strong grip. This was evident in the widespread
practice in which chairman candidates of political organizations
always ask for the President's blessing.

"A president who takes office for too long is feared to deny
the people control," Kristiadi said.

Maj. Gen. Theo Sjafei, former chief of Udayana military
command overseeing Bali and Nusa Tenggara provinces, said in a
prepared paper that the debate on presidential power would
continue mainly because Indonesia had yet to complete its
experiment to find its ideal political system.

"There are problems dealing with presidential power. For
example, how to apply the principles of check and balance and
mutual control among the state's three political pillars as well
as a president's responsibility and accountability," he said.

Meanwhile in Semarang, support grew for political observer
Amien Rais' proposal to hold a national dialog to select the
future president.

Ali Mufiz and Soehardjo of Diponegoro University said the
dialog was urgent as Indonesia faced fierce competition in the
global market.

Mufiz, who also chairs Central Java's Council of Ulemas, said
the dialog could be used to help settle the dispute on the
alleged rivalry between civilians and the military. (05/har/amd)