Camelia Pasandaran – Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD on Monday warned the government and the House of Representatives against using government regulations in lieu of law, or perppu, for political aims.
"The government and anyone else should not play with the perppu for their own ends," Mahfud said at the Constitutional Court.
"For example, the government might issue a perppu because of its strong position in the House. But then the House, which supports the government, stays indecisive, not deliberating the perppu [into a law], neither rejecting nor approving it for political ends."
His statement came after the court voted to reject a call for a judicial review of the perppu on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) issued last year by the president. That perppu temporarily replaced KPK members who had been charged with crimes.
Mahfud said the demand for the judicial review, filed by a group of lawyers, had been rejected because the constitution does not stipulate that a perppu can be tested against the Constitution.
"Based on the Constitution, the Constitutional Court should only test laws against the Constitution," he said. "The sentence is clear, and it does not mention perppu. The authority of the Court actually is to test the perppu only after it has been deliberated and endorsed by the House."
However, he said the Constitutional Court had no option but to accept any registration of a judicial review against perppus, otherwise it would leave open the possibility for abuses of power and political games that could paralyze the government.
"Perppu could also be abused to paralyze the state institutions by firstly paralyzing the House," he explained.
Mahfud said a perppu should be deliberated at the earliest possible instance by the House but he added that many had remained untouched by the legislative body even after two successive tenures.
"It is dangerous if we leave it for the House to decide, with their own time preference. If we let it happen that way, there might be four or five deliberation sessions with no decision reached by the House."
In addition to the perppu on the KPK, another on the Financial System Safety Net (JPSK) had remained undeliberated since it was issued in October 2008.
That perppu allowed the president to establish the Financial System Stability Committee (KKSK), which decided to bail out Bank Century a month later. The House has so far failed to take a decision on whether to accept or reject the perppu.
"We can test the content against the law, or test the procedure, as it has been a long time since the House did not approve it and [the government] still sees it as valid," he said.