MPR bows to pressure, agrees to discuss constitutional commission<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ad hoc commission for
\namendments (Commission A) agreed on Sunday to address public
\ndemands for the establishment of a constitutional commission
\nduring the ongoing Annual Session.<\/p>\n
The agreement was made at a plenary meeting of Commission A
\nled by chairman Jakob Tobing.<\/p>\n
\"We will include demands for a constitutional commission in
\nthe agenda to be deliberated further in this commission,\" said
\nJakob.<\/p>\n
The agreement was reached following a meeting attended by nine
\nleaders of Commission A and representatives of the 12 factions at
\nthe MPR building.<\/p>\n
However, it remains unclear whether the commission will be an
\nindependent body or a committee subordinated to the MPR.<\/p>\n
The setting up of a constitutional commission has been
\nmentioned by several political parties in recent days after the
\nIndonesian Military\/National Police (TNI\/Polri) faction issued a
\nstatement last week. The TNI\/Polri faction proposed the
\nestablishment of a constitutional commission to correlate
\nconflicting articles in the amended Constitution.<\/p>\n
Several factions, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and
\nGolkar, came up with a similar idea last year, but the MPR
\nrejected the proposal.<\/p>\n
The support of MPR factions for the establishment of a
\nconstitutional commission was apparently encouraged by the
\nTNI\/Polri proposal.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan faction spokesman Didi Supriyanto said on
\nSunday that his faction would accept and was ready to discuss the
\nidea to form a constitutional commission.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United Development
\nParty (PPP) faction demanded that the MPR allocate more time to
\ndiscuss the proposal.<\/p>\n
\"The constitutional commission should be discussed after the
\nMPR finalizes the amendment,\" Lukman said during a meeting of
\nCommission A.<\/p>\n
Separately, Golkar's Theo L. Sambuaga said that the MPR would
\nset up a constitutional commission to improve the amendment
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
Theo proposed that the membership of the constitutional
\ncommission include representatives from the MPR.<\/p>\n
\"If membership is restricted to activists and experts, the
\ndraft amendments will need to be reviewed by the MPR. On the
\nother hand, if legislators are included in the commission, the
\nMPR will automatically endorse the draft,\" Theo said, adding that
\nthe second alternative would be more efficient.<\/p>\n
Theo made the statement in response to a query by law expert
\nMarwan Mas at a hearing with the Coalition for A New Constitution
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Experts taking part in the hearing included Mochtar Pabottingi
\nof the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Saldi Isra of
\nAndalas University, Chusnul Mar'iyah of the University of
\nIndonesia, Daud Busro of Sriwijaya University and Bambang
\nWidjojanto of the Indonesian Legal Aid (LBH).<\/p>\n
The coalition has been campaigning for an independent
\nconstitutional commission that would outline a brand new
\nconstitution. The idea has faced resistance from politicians,
\nindicating that the legislators want to keep their role in the
\namendment process.<\/p>\n
Legislators have insisted that the proposed constitutional
\ncommission would serve as nothing more than to correlate articles
\nconsidered to be contradictory.<\/p>",
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