Constitutional
\nsustainability<\/p>\n
It should be a remorseful record for the article, titled
\nRebirth of Constitution without legitimacy (The Jakarta Post,
\nNov. 28) to disclose the alleged failures in attempts to redraft
\nthe Constitution throughout the periods of 1945, 1949, 1950, 1956
\nto 1959 and 1999-2002 till today. Such revelation of
\nconstitutional inconsistencies leads to the following question:
\nIf the record is true, shouldn't the scholars of constitutional
\nlaw have been admonished for the reported failures in the
\nredrafting of the Constitution?<\/p>\n
During the period of revolution, Indonesia already had the
\n1945 Constitution, meeting, given the precarious conditions and
\nexigencies of the period, the formal requirements for the
\nlegality and legitimacy of the measures taken as solutions to
\nconstitutional problems.<\/p>\n
Contrary to the alleged failures in the redrafting of the
\nConstitution, the national leaders and the jurists at that time
\nmade a masterful achievement with the transformation of the
\nfederal system of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia
\n(R.U.S.I; RIS) to the unitarian system of the Republic of
\nIndonesia (RI) by virtue of the Charter of Agreement of May 19,
\n1950 on the establishment of the unitarian state concluded
\nbetween the R.U.S.I. government and the RI government.<\/p>\n
The outstanding historical feature in the constitutional law
\nof RI was that the Republic was a constituent state (of the total
\n16 states) within the R.U.S.I. and that before May 16, 1959 all
\nconstituent states had declared merger with RI, while East
\nSumatra as a constituent state had expressed the desire to join
\nthe newly projected unitarian state via the R.U.S.I.<\/p>\n
As a milestone in the transformation process from the federal
\nsystem back to the unitarian system, the Charter of Agreement
\ndeclared the formation of the unitarian state "as a
\nmaterialization of the concept of RI aimed at in the Proclamation
\n(of Independence) of Aug. 17, 1945."<\/p>\n
The federal system of R.U.S.I., existing since Dec. 27, 1949
\nfollowing the transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands)
\nlasted for only eight months as on Aug. 15, 1950 the Provisional
\nConstitution of R.I. -- as the new unitarian state -- was
\npromulgated.<\/p>\n
To crown this constitutional achievement, in September 1950
\nIndonesia joined the United Nations as its 60th member.<\/p>\n
So the rebuke about the range of failures in the history of
\nIndonesian constitutional law may seem unwarranted. Emulating the
\nfounding fathers in their success to preserve constitutional
\nsustainability, the incumbent Constitutional Commission should
\nmake this success their exemplary spiritual and motivating
\nguidance to accomplish their noble task.<\/p>\n
S. SUHAEDI
\nJakarta<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/constitutional-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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