Soeharto steps into debate on presidential term limit

Soeharto steps into debate on presidential term limit

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto stepped into a growing debate
yesterday over whether Indonesia needs to set a limitation to the
presidential term after he is no longer in power.

Speaking before leaders of the Indonesian Students Association
in the United States, the President said the answer to the
presidential term controversy was already delineated in the 1945
Constitution.

"We should always stick to the 1945 Constitution, as a
guideline to sustain our political system," Soeharto said as
quoted by State Minister of Youths Affairs and Sports Hayono
Isman.

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

The proposal of limiting a presidential term gained momentum
yesterday when two scholars, an Armed Forces legislator and a
state minister, endorsed the idea but suggested the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) take the initiative.

"MPR members should have the courage to impose a new
regulation, which will limit a president's tenure," Soehardjo of
Diponegoro University's School of Law told reporters in Semarang
yesterday.

Soehardjo was commenting on Minister of Transmigration Siswono
Yudohusodo's suggestion on Wednesday that in the post-Soeharto
era after 2003, Indonesia should limit a president's tenure to 10
years.

Political observer of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta,
Mochtar Mas'oed, suggested that the presidential term limitation
be implemented under a law or an MPR decree.

"The 1945 Constitution does not describe the presidential term
limitation in detail. It should be enacted in a law or a decree
of MPR," he said.

Chief of the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction at the House of
Representatives Suparman Achmad also supported Siswono's
proposal.

"The most important thing is that there must be an agreement
between all MPR factions," Suparman said as quoted by Antara
yesterday.

State Minister of Special Assignments Harmoko, who is also
Golkar chairman, was noncommittal over the issue. He said the
ruling organization had not discussed the notion of limiting a
presidential term but could accept it if all MPR factions agreed
to it.

Mochtar said the remaining problem was how to convince the
dominant political groups in MPR, who had long neglected the
idea, to accept the notion.

In a related development, Coordinating Minister for Political
Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman contributed to the
discussion on whether it was possible for Indonesia to have more
than one candidate in the presidential election next March.

"It's possible," Soesilo said after chairing a limited
ministerial meeting on political affairs and security at his
office yesterday.

"It'll be good if Indonesians are ready to have more than one
presidential candidate," he said.

Trend

However, he added, "the current political trend has shown that
people tend to reelect President Soeharto."

Former minister of finance Frans Seda and Minister of Defense
and Security Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat said Wednesday that next
year's presidential election would be more democratic if it
involved more than one candidate. Frans Seda also suggested that
the new president be elected through voting, a method which is
usually frowned upon, as Indonesian political decisions are
usually reached through a deliberation of consensus.

Soesilo said further that it would be up to the People's
Consultative Assembly to name more than one candidate.

The People's Consultative Assembly will convene in March to
draw up the new Broad Guidelines of State Policies and elect a
president and vice president.

Also yesterday, Soesilo expressed support for Frans Seda's
suggestion of electing a president through voting.

"Voting is not haram (religiously forbidden)," he said.
"However, Indonesians prefer deliberation over voting."

Political analysts Syamsuddin Haris and Riswandha Imawan
joined the chorus of support for voting, saying that it was
suggested by the 1945 Constitution.

Syamsuddin of the National Institute of Sciences said the
mechanism would enable the election to run fairly and allow MPR
members to vote freely. The traditional mechanism of deliberation
through consensus tends to conceal the truth and paves the way
for repression, he said.

Riswandha of Gadjah Mada University agreed, adding that voting
could serve as a control instrument for an elected president.
(prb/har/imn/amd)

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