Save our democracy

President Abdurrahman Wahid's threat to dissolve the House of Representatives is not without precedent in modern Indonesian history. Whenever Abdurrahman broached the subject, in private rather than in pubic, he referred to Decree No. 150, which was issued by president Sukarno on July 5, 1959. This decree, as we shall see, was a watershed in the history of modern Indonesia.

This decree issued by Sukarno dissolved parliament and put the country back under the 1945 Constitution from the Provisional 1950 Constitution. The move replaced the parliamentary system of government with the presidential system. With the decree, Sukarno repossessed many of the political powers which had hitherto been vested in parliament and the prime minister.

Sukarno, who until that time had been more of a figurehead president, claimed that he issued the decree to save the country from collapse and to maintain its unity. Indeed, the archipelago found itself in a grave situation at that time. There were rebellions in several regions and the government was ineffective because of endless bickering among the main political parties following an inconclusive election in 1955.

Today, Indonesia is also in a crisis and President Abdurrahman may rightly blame some of the problems on the House of Representatives. The House's infatuation with scrutinizing the powers of the President has often come at the expense of its chief task of enacting legislation. The House has even blocked many of the economic programs the government pledged to the International Monetary Fund it would carry out.

Abdurrahman has accused the House of engaging in a systematic campaign to unseat him and of exceeding its authority under the presidential system of government. He has said the House acts as if it is operating under a parliamentary system of government. Here he has found a similarity with the situation faced by Sukarno in 1959. And by referring to the infamous decree, he has said he has a valid precedent to dissolve parliament.

That is about the only similarity, if we can call it that, between the situation in 1959 and the one in 2001. As much as people disagreed with Sukarno's move, no one could accuse him of violating the 1945 Constitution. By dissolving parliament, he in fact restored the country's basic laws. President Abdurrahman is already operating under the amended 1945 Constitution. Nowhere in this document, even after a series of amendments, can we find any article that empowers the President to dissolve the House.

The fact that he even entertained the idea suggests a president who is willing to bend the Constitution to suit his needs. The House may have failed in some of its duties, but it is debatable whether it has exceeded its authority. On the contrary, it is the President who is increasingly showing the disturbing traits of an erratic, irrational and desperate leader.

Thankfully, the Indonesian Military (TNI) was quick to dismiss the proposal as unconstitutional, saying it would not support any move to dissolve the House. The military's position on this issue is crucial. In 1959, Sukarno found a very willing coconspirator in the Army, without which he would not have been able to wrest power from parliament. Similarly, Abdurrahman would never be able to forge ahead with his plan without the backing of TNI.

Looking back at our history offers compelling proof that allowing Abdurrahman to dissolve the House would be a tragic mistake. The 1959 decree killed Indonesia's nascent democracy and plunged the country into an authoritarian regime for the next four decades. Sukarno instituted his Guided Democracy and Army general Soeharto, who rose to power in 1966, ruled by terror and repression until he was forced from office in 1998.

The House of Representatives is still far from the ideal democratic institution that Indonesia needs. With all of its imperfections the House is still the result of a general election, the second democratic poll ever held in this country, the first being in 1955. President Abdurrahman himself is one of the outcomes of this democratic process. The House, for all its shortcomings, is still a symbol of Indonesia's democracy.

Indonesia today is still at the bottom of a very long learning curve to democracy. This process, which began after independence in 1945, was abruptly halted by Sukarno through his infamous decree in 1959. But at least Sukarno gave the country some 14 years of democracy before taking this step. President Abdurrahman has not even been in office for 18 months and he is already entertaining the thought of killing democracy in Indonesia for the second time.