Presidential veto of House legislation criticized

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has questioned a proposal to grant the presidency the right to veto the entry into effect of legislation passed by the House of Representatives, arguing that the government fully participated in the deliberation of bills before their approval by the House.

"The government is involved in the deliberation of every bill right from the very beginning. So, why should the president be given an additional right of veto?" asked Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang after a meeting on Thursday of the MPR's ad hoc committee on the amendment of the Constitution.

The Constitutional Commission, which is currently engaged in harmonizing recent amendments to the 1945 Constitution, said earlier that it was considering proposing that the President be granted a right of veto over legislation, similar to that enjoyed by the presidents of many countries, including the U.S., so as to improve the checks and balances between the executive and the legislature.

MPR member Hobbes Sinaga from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) doubted on Thursday that the suggestion for a presidential veto was based on in-depth research.

"I don't think commission has conducted a serious study on this idea. Perhaps the commission is simply adopting it from the practices in other countries," he added.

Both Baharuddin and Hobbes were members of the MPR committee that drafted the recent amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the Constitutional Commission's deputy chairman, Albert Hasibuan, revealed that commission members had agreed that the presidency needed to be strengthened through the granting of the right to veto bills considered to be prejudicial to the national interest.

The idea was prompted by the current legislation, which provides that bills that have been endorsed by the House will enter into effect within 30 days after their approval, irrespective of whether the president has given his consent.

This provision, according to Albert, shows that the position of the president is weaker to that of the House, making it impossible for the checks and balances mechanisms to work properly.

The deliberation of a bill involves the government and provides an opportunity to the president, through the relevant ministers, to raise objections to the bill.

Baharuddin pointed out that the Constitutional had been established to assess and harmonize amendments to the country's basic law, which many say are characterized by short-term political interests. The commission has to submit regular reports to the Assembly's ad hoc committee on the progress of its work.

According to Baharuddin, the ad hoc committee agreed on Thursday to accept whatever recommendations the Constitutional Commission made.

"However, we will discuss later whether to apply its recommendations or not," he said.

The Constitutional Commission is slated to submit its first report to the ad hoc committee members on Feb. 9. The commission is expected to submit its final recommendations in early April.

The commission consists of 31 experts from various disciplines who are charged with improve the quality of the Constitution.