Constitutional Court Chief Says Not Easy To Unseat President

Medan (Antara Bali) - Constitutional court chief Mahfud MD said that it is not easy to unseat the president now, as the process needs not only political but also legal violations committed by the president.

"It takes not only political but also legal mistakes for a president to be impeached," he stated at a discussion held by the alumni of the Islamic Students Association (HMI) here on Thursday night.

In the past, a president could be toppled merely through having a different political interest, he observed. He referred to the cases of the late first President Soekarno and President Abdurrahman Wahid, who were removed from office after two-thirds of the members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) voted against them.

Over time and following the strengthening of the role of legal process, such a move will now be impossible even if two-thirds of the present MPR members vote against the president, he added.

Mahfud noted that if MPR wishes to impeach the president, the process must begin at the Constitutional Court, which will rule if the president has really committed a legal violation.

"If no legal violation has been committed, the Constitutional Court will reject the impeachment plan," he remarked.

According to Article 7 of the country's 1945 Constitution, a president and a vice president can be unseated only if they commit an act of corruption, bribery, treason, a serious crime punishable with more than five years in jail or a disgraceful act.

In view of that, he described the position of the Indonesian president and vice president as very strong, as they cannot be removed from office just because they differ with the MPR, the House of Representatives (DPR) or any political party.

Despite this fact, Mahfud called it regrettable that the present national leadership seemed to be afraid of being toppled and, therefore, was always hesitant to take decisions.

For example, he referred to the government's indecisiveness regarding its plan to raise the price of oil, although "the fact is, no one would be able to unseat him (the president) if he finally decided to raise the price," Mahfud remarked.(*/M038)