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)

Editorial -- Page 4