On replacement of the President

On replacement of the President

From Suara Karya

The statement of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman in Surabaya rejecting the presidential replacement without a general election was hard to understand as the 1945 Constitution enables a replacement without an election, such as in the 1967 Special Session of the Provisional Consultative Assembly (MPRS) when first president Sukarno's mandate was withdrawn. The president was not directly elected by the people but by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), so constitutionally, the latter reserves the right to replace the president if he violates the Constitution and State Policy Guidelines.

In the United States, the president is directly elected by the people and can be unseated by the congress in a joint session between the House of Representatives and the Senate without an election. President Nixon in 1974 had to withdraw before the U.S. Congress impeached him.

Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur, was elected by the MPR, not directly by the people. Furthermore, Gus Dur, as an MPR member, is not a candidate elected by the people through a political party. He was appointed by the General Election Committee (KPU) as a representative of a group, and during the time of appointment there was controversy, because as a representative of a group, Gus Dur is also the declarer of the National Awakening Party. So it is absurd that the general chairman of the NU rejects the presidential replacement without a general election when a president whose MPR membership was not obtained through an election but only through an appointment, was urged to withdraw.

SUBAGIO ANAM

Legislator

of PDI-P Faction

Jakarta