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)