Extending Presidential Term Betrays Indonesia's Reforms

Jakarta, Indonesia (News Today) - The idea of lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul of the Democrat Party that the constitution should be amended to allow the president to serve more than two terms will betray the country’s reforms, a legislator said.

"The 1945 Constitution has been amended. It was done in the wake of reforms calls for a change in democracy which perpetuate authoritarianism," legislator Nurul Arifin of the Golkar Party faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) said here on Wednesday.

She said that extending the tenure of the president by the third term would constitute a betrayal to the reforms agenda and would be detrimental to state’s constitution. Therefore, she said that it would be very illogical if the discourse raised by Ruhut got positive response.

"We should not disturb what has been agreed upon by the Indonesian people," she said.

The same opinion was also voiced by National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Teguh Juwarno, who is also chairman of House Commission II on home affairs. Teguh Juwarno said that Ruhut’s idea was a setback in the country’s democracy history.

"This discourse is a setback to democracy. So, there is no need to respond seriously to it because it would only waste time and energy and would be counterproductive," Teguh said.

Secretary of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction Ganjar Pranowo said that Ruhut had made the statement like a person who had just waken up from a nap. Therefore, he believed what Ruhut had said was only a personal idea, not that of his Democrat Party (PD).

He said that the constitution has been amended where the tenure of the president had been restricted to two terms only. The amendment was made based on a background where former president Soeharto continued to serve his terms without restrictions.

"It seems that Ruhut was provoked to revive the Soeharto style of government," Ganjar said.

Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso of the Golkar Party said that Ruhut had raised an extremely courageous idea. He said that amending the constitution for the sake of adding the presidential terms to more than two periods would only cause prolonged polemics and waste of time and energy.

Source : kompas

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