PDI urges strengthening of Supreme Court

JAKARTA (JP): The minority faction Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) insisted yesterday that the People's Consultative Assembly give the Supreme Court the judicial right to review laws.

The bid, however, is being challenged by the other four factions in the Assembly. An Assembly session discussing the issue was left undecided yesterday, pending a lobby to persuade PDI to accept the majority's vote.

"We are trying to avoid the use of voting to maintain our decision making process to proceed under the guidance of deliberation for agreement," said spokesman for the United Development Party (PPP) faction, Zain Badjeber.

The session will resume Thursday.

PDI spokesman Ismunandar told the Assembly ad hoc committee deliberating non-state policy guidelines decrees that the Supreme Court's right to judicial review was necessary to scrap the long list of laws which were not in line with the constitution.

"The 1985 law on political parties and Golkar is one of the most outstanding examples. It does not stipulate anything about freedom of speech and political affiliation as demanded by the constitution," Ismunandar said.

The 1945 Constitution does not say anything about the Supreme Court's authority to judicial review of laws.

It prompted the Assembly to make a 1978 decree on judicial review valid only for regulations below laws, on grounds that laws be set up by the President with the House of Representatives' approval.

The constitution says that the two state institutions are equal to the Supreme Court.

Golkar, the Armed Forces and the regional representatives factions referred to the 1978 decree as grounds to deny PDI's proposal.

"How can the Supreme Court review the products of equal institutions?" Golkar spokesman Andi Mattalata asked.

He said the judicial review commonly applied only in liberal countries which recognized separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The Armed Forces faction said the 1985 Basic Law on Justice already stated that the Supreme Court could suggest the President and the House change certain laws if they violated the constitution.

PPP spokesman Badjeber said the Assembly had the judicial review authority. The Moslem-based faction has demanded the Assembly establish a decree which empowers itself with the right to judicial review.

In the other session deliberating the State Policy Guidelines, PDI and PPP joined forces to persuade the Assembly to set up decrees on the general election and political organizations.

"A more democratic life has now become a basic human need ... Everybody around the world sings the song of democracy and makes it the top hit," PPP spokesman Muhammad Buang said.

PPP and PDI said a democratic political system required fair and honest general elections, in which the government plays a neutral role by refraining from backing a certain poll contestant and recognizing all political organizations as joint election participants.

Golkar spokesman Rully Chairul Azwar defended the exclusion of poll contestants from general elections, adding that in the future "poll contestants would play a greater role in a general election's planning, implementation and control". (amd)