Volume 6 Issue 12 Reconstruction of Filling
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ISSN 2455-4782 RECONSTRUCTION OF FILLING VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT DURING SUCCESSION IN INDONESIA Authored by: Abdul Ghoffar* * Doctoral Student, Faculty of Law, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia __________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT To be a republic country and apply presidential system, the office of the President of Indonesia is absolutely vital. Not only the President is the head of state, but he is as also the head of government. Therefore, the office of President must not be vacant under any circumstances. This research examines an excellent construction for filling vacancies in the office of the President of Indonesia during succession. Vacancies during succession are defined as vacancies occur until October 20 in the last year of the President’s term in office, in which no new elected President is to succeed. To analyze this issue, normative legal research method is used and generates following results. First, there has not been adequate regulation for filling the vacancy in the office of the President of Indonesia during succession. Second, to address potential vacancies in the office of the President of Indonesia during succession, it is worth reconstructing the system in effect. Should any vacancy exist in the office of the President during succession, the Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chairman of the House of Regional Representative would be the successor sequentially. Keywords: Filling vacancy, Presidential Succession, Indonesia. 95 | P a g e JOURNAL ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES OF LAW [JCIL] VOLUME 6 ISSUE 12 ISSN 2455-4782 BACKGROUND In a republic country, the office of the President is fundamental. Various studies indicate that the Constitution of most republic countries worldwide provide particular sections for regulating the office of the President. Philippine, for example, its Constitution which regulates the office of the President is stated in Article VII entitled "The Executive Department." Similar section in the United States Constitution can be found in Article II, named "The Executive Article". Correspondingly, in Indonesia, the 1945 Constitution Chapter III entitled "the Executive Power" presents a chapter describing the powers and functions of the President.1 The office of the President significantly protrudes in a republic country which applies presidential system. Under this system of government, the president is equipped with exclusive authority as the head of government as well as the head of state.2 According to Fatmawati, after the amendment of the 1945 Constitution, the government of Indonesia has adopted presidential system, changing from the earlier semi-presidential system. Under this system, the president shall be entitled to submit Bills to the House of Representatives. The President and Vice President shall be elected as a pair directly by the people. Furthermore, the People’s Consultative Assembly is no longer the highest state institution that holds the people's sovereignty. Despite its precise authority on the constitution and the office of president, it may only dismiss the President and/or Vice President during their term in accordance with the Constitution. The President may not freeze and/or dissolve the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall hold the authority to establish Laws as well as have the right to propose Bills. The President in making international agreements that may produce an extensive and fundamental impact on the lives of the people which is linked to the state financial burden, and/or that will requires an amendment to or the enactment of a Law, shall obtain the approval of the House of Representatives.3 1 Harun Alrasyid, Masalah Pengisian Jabatan Presiden: Sejak Sidang Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia 1945 Sampai Sidang Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat 1993 (The Problem of Filling the Office of President: Since the Session of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence in 1945 to the 1993 People's Consultative Assembly Session), Disertation, Postgraduate Program, University of Indonesia, 1993, p. 2. 2 Ilona Maria Szilagyi, Presidential versus parliamentary systems , AARMS LAW, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, p. 308. 3 Fatmawati, Analisis Sistem Pemerintahan Dalam Uud Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945 Pra Dan Pasca Perubahan, Serta Pelaksanaannya Dalam Praktek Ketatanegaraan (Analysis of the Government System in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Pre and Post Amendment, and Its Implementation in State Administration Practices), Jurnal Hukum dan Pembangunan, 35th year, No.3 July-September 2005, p. 297-298. 96 | P a g e JOURNAL ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES OF LAW [JCIL] VOLUME 6 ISSUE 12 ISSN 2455-4782 Similarly, Saldi Isra has stated that Indonesia currently adheres to a presidential system of government. According to his statement, the Amendment of the 1945 Constitution constructed in 1999 – 2002 has purified the presidential system in Indonesia with several changes. First, the mechanism of presidential election has changed from election with representative system, elected by the members of the People’s Consultative Assembly, into direct election by a vote of the people. Secondly, the term of office of the President and Vice President becomes strictly limited. Third, the removal of the president and vice president from office could only be accomplished by impeachment mechanism. Fourth, The President may not freeze and/or dissolve the House of Representatives. Fifth, the existence of the People’s Consultative Assembly is reconstructed. Lastly, a judicial review mechanism becomes institutionalized. 4 Based on this explanation, under presidential system, the office of the President of Indonesia is the key to running the state government. Therefore, presidential succession is crucial. There is no place for delayed replacement. The writer is interested in conducting research on the arrangement of filling the vacant office of the President of Indonesia referring to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (hereinafter referred to as the 1945 Constitution). Due to the substance of the office of the President of Indonesia, this office cannot be left vacant for even a second under any circumstances. This study will focuses more on the arrangement of filling the vacant office of the President of Indonesia during succession, defined as a period of time until October 20 in the last year of the President's term of office, in which there has not been a new elected President to serve. RESEARCH QUESTION Based on background description, this research questions the excellent construction for filling the vacant office of the President during succession in Indonesia. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research is considerably normative legal research. There are two legal materials used. The first one is primary legal materials, namely statutory regulations ranging from the 1945 4 Saldi Isra, Pergeseran Fungsi Legislasi: Menguatnya Model Legislasi Parlementer Dalam Sistem Presidensial Indonesia (Shift in Legislation Function: Strengthening the Parliamentary Legislation Model in the Indonesian Presidential System), (Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo Persada, 2010), p. 63. 97 | P a g e JOURNAL ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES OF LAW [JCIL] VOLUME 6 ISSUE 12 ISSN 2455-4782 Constitution, Laws, Constitutional Court Decisions, Government Regulations, and others. Next one is secondary legal materials, including books, magazines, journals, newspapers, and scientific papers. After collecting various legal materials, the writer then analyzes these materials. RESULTS The amendments of the 1945 Constitution has slightly changed the arrangement of filling vacancies in the office of the President of Indonesia. According to Article 8 of the 1945 Constitution after the amendment, in case of the death, resignation or inability to act of the president, the Vice President then for the time being shall act as President until the end of his term. However, should the offices of the President and Vice President both become vacant, the presidential line of succession would be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Defence together. The People's Consultative Assembly shall hold a session, within thirty days at the latest, to elect a new president and vice-president from two pairs of candidates for presidency proposed by political parties or coalition of political parties whose Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates won the first and second places in the last presidential election. The elected candidates will serve for the remained term of office.5 According to these provisions, it can be seen that the 1945 Constitution solely arrange the filling for permanent vacancies of the President during his term of office. However, the filling for both temporary and permanent vacancies during succession, has barely regulated in the Constitution or other regulations. Furthermore, there are 15 countries being compared on succession, namely the United States,6 Honduras,7 Chile,8 Nigeria,9 Zambia,10 the 5 Article 8 Paragraph (1) and Paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. 6 Amendment XXV, United States of America's Constitution of 1789 with Amendments through 1992 7 Honduras's Constitution of 1982 with Amendments through 2013. 8 Chile's Constitution of 1980 with Amendments through 2015. 9 Nigeria's Constitution of 1999 with Amendments through 2011. 10 Zambia's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments