The question of Habibie's legitimacy

The question of Habibie's legitimacy

Up to this day the public debate remains focused on the
legitimacy of Habibie's presidency. Habibie was formally
installed as president even though the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) decree which named him vice president has not been
abrogated. Neither has the MPR decree that officially declared
Soeharto president. The law dictates that in order to recall an
MPR decree, a general or extraordinary session of the Assembly
has to be called.

But what happened when Soeharto resigned without feeling it
necessary to submit an account to the Assembly, which gave him
the mandate for the presidency. Is it really that easy to pass
along presidential powers? It is these oversights that have been
the cause of Habibie's present predicament.

Common sense would require the immediate revocation of the MPR
decrees that named Soeharto president and Habibie vice president.
This is the fundamental step that Habibie should be taking to win
legitimacy.

Judging by what happened during his first week as president,
however, it appears that Habibie is more concerned with winning
political legitimacy. Therefore, a number of individuals came, or
were called by Habibie, to convey to him the existing aspirations
regarding reform. Those individuals then called news conferences
to explain to the media the steps that Habibie was planning to
take.

Regardless of the expertise of those individuals in question,
and regardless of the sincerity of the intentions of the groups
concerned, trying to gain legitimacy by bypassing the legislature
constitutes a drifting away from the concept of democratic.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta