'VP is crown prince for presidency'

By Asip Agus Hasani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The recent call for a broadening of the next Indonesian vice president's role to ease the workload of President Soeharto has received various responses. Political professor Ichlasul Amal of the Gadjah Mada University examines the issue.

Question: The call for the next vice president's greater role was linked to the incumbent President Soeharto's advancing age. What do you think?

Answer: In 1945, when we decided to adopt the presidential system, it was believed that Mohammad Yamin (one of Indonesia's prominent founding fathers) was adopting the United States system. There -- though not exactly a case of being a spare tire -- the vice presidents' role is not prominent. It's because a president and vice president are elected as one. They are considered a unity, an institution. They have to work together.

In Indonesia, that was also the case when Bung Karno and Bung Hatta were elected as (Indonesia's first) president and vice president. They were called dwi-tunggal (two but one).

The president and vice president, therefore, are elected as a package. That's why the vice president's job description is never clearly stated. It is (understood) based on common sense that a vice president's job is representing the president either in state affairs or in simple protocol.

Q: When Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was abroad, his deputy Anwar Ibrahim took over the responsibility of the position...

A: Malaysia applies a different parliamentary system from Indonesia. In such a system, the prime minister is accountable to the parliament, which explains why he can be substituted by ad interim officials.

In Indonesia, a president is a prime minister ex officio. His or her position cannot be substituted by anybody else, including the vice president. That's why the vice president's task is fully decided by the president.

Q: Is there really a need to give Indonesia's next vice president a greater role?

A: Definitely. In the next period, as Juwono Sudarsono (the political scientist who recently made the call for greater role for the next vice president and aired the assumption that President Soeharto would be reelected to another term) said, the president is advancing in age.

In addition, we are facing rapid development. The government's tasks in the future will be more complicated. Juwono and others have seen that in the future, the position of the president should be substitutable.

It'd be better, therefore, if the next vice president's task was clearly delineated... (there should be) a clear division between the tasks of a president with those of the vice president.

Q: Is it possible to have this role expanded through the People's Consultative Assembly's ruling?

A: If (the expansion) is done through an assembly decree, it might be misinterpreted that the president and vice president come from different factions. (This misinterpretation) could be dangerous and may create conflict.

It's better to keep the "one package" concept of a president and vice president and let the president allocate tasks to the vice president.

A vice president is, however, sort of a crown prince who has the chance to become the next president. Just like Reagan and Bush, and now Clinton and Al Gore. In this case, it's very important to limit the presidential term. Otherwise, the vice president position will never be strategic nor promise (an imminent presidency).

Q: Are you saying that vice presidents can also be seen as apprentice presidents?

A: That's right. If we wish for a continued presidential institution, it is the position of vice president that matters. Continuity does not mean that the position should be held only by one person, but how that person can finish their entire term.

Q: It seems that a law on presidential institution is needed.

A: That's true, and the most important thing (that should be regulated) is the limitation of the presidential term. Then, there should also be regulations on retired presidents. No one talks about it at the moment.