Public seen not ready for debate on presidential term

JAKARTA (JP): The discussion on whether Indonesia needs to limit the presidential term continued yesterday with political analysts airing conflicting views.

Former cabinet minister Rudini, Moslem scholar Amien Rais and political observer Fadjar Ismail separately said the discourse should be delayed until incumbent President Soeharto was no longer in power. They agreed a limitation to the presidential term could only apply when the majority of people were ready.

However, other observers, including lecturer Ichlasul Amal and politician Jaelani Naro, wanted to have the discussion now.

"The time (for a presidential term limitation) will come when our political system runs steady and each political organization can come up with qualified presidential nominees," said former minister of home affairs Rudini.

"A discussion on a presidential term limitation will only be possible in the post-Soeharto era," said Amien Rais, a lecturer at Gadjah Mada University. Amien was in 1993 the first scholar to call for an open discourse on presidential succession, a politically taboo subject at the time.

"People, especially the young, must find an appropriate time to discuss the issue," said Fadjar, a lecturer at Diponegoro University in Semarang.

The observers were commenting on Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo's recent suggestion that Indonesia limit a president's tenure to 10 years in the post-Soeharto era after 2003.

Soeharto himself stepped into the debate when he said on Thursday that people arguing about the issue should just look to the 1945 Constitution as the answer was already delineated there.

The 1945 Constitution says a president and vice president are elected for a five-year term and can be reelected.

Rudini justified his opinion on the grounds that most Indonesians are still too politically immature to understand the proposal for a presidential term limitation.

He said those who brought up the issue for public discussion should back up their opinion with reasonable arguments.

"I believe it will not be a problem for President Soeharto to accept the proposal if (those who propose the limitation) have strong and reasonable grounds," he said.

Rudini said Indonesians should now concentrate on electing a young but superb citizen to assist President Soeharto as the next vice president for the next five-year term.

"It would be better if President Soeharto was reelected to give him the opportunity to guide the vice president, especially in decision-making processes," he said.

"The next vice president may be smarter than President Soeharto, but he or she may lack experience in decision-making," he added.

Amien Rais suggested that a term limitation be imposed not only on the presidency but on all government positions.

"Absolute and prolonged power tends to corrupt," he said. "A person will lose his or her political vision after holding a position for a long period of time."

Former chairman of the Moslem-based United Development Party, Jaelani Naro, suggested that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) take the initiative to discuss the term limitation.

The Assembly, which is the upper House, will convene next March to draw up the new Broad Guidelines of State Policies and elect a president and vice president.

Lecturer Ichlasul Amal called for the discussion now. "We must have the courage to start the discussion, otherwise we'll never have the chance to improve our political system," he said.

Amal disagreed with the suggestion that MPR alone should take the initiative to discuss the presidential term limitation. "The public needs to be involved in the discussion," he said. "MPR will only need to follow up on the public debate when it convenes in March."

Separately, Minister of Information R. Hartono said yesterday that any discussion on the state's political system should not disregard the principles contained in the 1945 Constitution.

"To change the 1945 Constitution means to change the country's whole political, economic and social structure," he told reporters after attending the 52nd anniversary of the House of Representatives.

Hartono did not dismiss the possibility of electing a president through voting, a decision-making method which was frowned upon, but said Indonesia was historically a nation that settled disputes through a deliberation of consensus.

Naro said voting was the presidential election mechanism stipulated in the 1945 Constitution.

He, however, said the decision to discuss the term limitation would largely depend on MPR's major factions.

"What can we do if the largest factions reject the proposal to elect the president through voting?" he asked.

He said the Golkar faction, which has more than 600 representatives in the Assembly, would play a significant role in influencing any meeting. (imn/har/23/10)