Save our democracy
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.