MPR forces military out, allows people to elect president<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) officially closed its
\nextended Annual Session on Sunday, applauding constitutional
\nchanges to force the military and the police out of the
\nlegislature and allow voters to elect the president directly in
\n2004.<\/p>\n
The 700-member MPR also rejected calls for the inclusion of
\nsharia in the Constitution and dropped the racist wording of
\npribumi and non-pribumi from an MPR decree.<\/p>\n
The MPR, nevertheless, failed to incorporate the much-demanded
\nconstitutional commission into the amended Constitution, but
\nreferred to it in an MPR decree.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the closure of the Annual Session, MPR Speaker
\nAmien Rais said that the MPR, under his leadership, had
\naccomplished its mission in amending the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"The first to the fourth amendment of the 1945 Constitution
\nhave been approved. This is a giant stride,\" Amien told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
He explained that the \"giant stride\" was the direct
\npresidential election and the abolition of nonelected
\nrepresentatives of the Indonesian Military, National Police and
\ninterest groups.<\/p>\n
With the amended Constitution, Amien said, \"The TNI and Police
\nwill become professional state security and defense forces ...
\nand no longer involved in day-to-day politics.\"<\/p>\n
\"We must be thankful to God that the next president and vice
\npresident will be directly elected by the people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Activists welcome the MPR's ability to force the TNI out of
\nthe legislature and also initiate a direct presidential election
\nfor 2004.<\/p>\n
Hadar N. Gumay from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro)
\nsaid, \"Directly electing the president is great in terms of
\ngiving back sovereignty to the people of Indonesia instead of
\ngiving it to the MPR.\"<\/p>\n
All the measures endorsed on Saturday through early Sunday
\nmorning were adopted by consensus rather than open ballot, to
\navoid any side being seen as publicly defeated.<\/p>\n
Only a few guests remained in their seats late on Saturday,
\napart from reporters covering the session. On the diplomatic
\nbalcony, British Ambassador Richard Gozney and Portuguese
\nAmbassador Ana Gomes were the last foreign envoys left in the
\ngallery.<\/p>\n
The Annual Session, which was initially scheduled to be closed
\non Saturday, was extended to Sunday due to heated debate by
\nlegislators on the constitutional commission.<\/p>\n
The TNI\/Police and National Awakening Party (PKB) factions
\ninsisted, late on Saturday, on including the establishment of the
\nconstitutional commission in the amended Constitution.<\/p>\n
TNI\/Police faction chairman Maj. Gen. Slamet Supriyadi even
\nwalked to the podium and proposed that the current fourth
\namendment of the Constitution be applied only until 2004.<\/p>\n
The proposal was rejected by many legislators, mostly from the
\nReform faction as that would have turned the current amended
\nConstitution into a transitional one.<\/p>\n
\"It was feared that if the constitutional commission could not
\ncomplete its work, there would be a constitutional vacuum,\" Amien
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
After being suspended several times for lobbying, the TNI
\nfaction agreed to revoke its proposal. The Assembly then decided
\nto establish the constitutional commission through an Assembly
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
MPR decree No. I\/MPR\/2002 tasks the Assembly's working
\ncommittee to prepare the establishment of an independent
\nconstitutional commission within a period of six months to one
\nyear to synchronize and improve the amended Constitution.<\/p>\n
Some constitutional advocates, however, expressed doubts that
\nthe MPR was sincere about establishing such a commission.<\/p>\n
Bambang Widjojanto from the Coalition for a New Constitution
\nsuspected that if the political interests of some major parties
\nwere in danger, they could easily demand the MPR revoke the
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
\"It's possible that the constitutional commission will not be
\nset up next year as the decree could easily be revoked. It would
\nbe stronger if the commission were included in the Constitution,\"
\nBambang, former chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute
\nFoundation, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Amien, nevertheless, gave an assurance that the MPR decree
\nshould provide a strong legal basis for the establishment of the
\nconstitutional commission and that it would not be revoked.<\/p>\n
\"Now, please note that MPR Speaker Amien Rais states that the
\nMPR decree will not be revoked,\" Amien told reporters on Sunday
\nat the MPR building.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Hadar criticized the MPR for failing to incorporate
\npublic participation into the amendment process.<\/p>\n
\"The MPR has rejected public participation in the amendment
\nprocess,\" Hadar told the Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said the Constitution ought to include several independent
\nbodies, such as the independent and permanent General Elections
\nCommission (KPU), an anticorruption commission, the National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the National
\nOmbudsman.<\/p>\n
\"The MPR is not prepared to share aspects of its authority
\nwith the public via those institutions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Selected articles from the amended 1945 Constitution passed by
\nthe MPR early on Sunday:<\/p>\n
1. Article 2 (1):
\nThe MPR shall comprise the House of Representatives and Regional
\nRepresentatives Council, both of which are to be elected in a
\ngeneral election.<\/p>\n
2. Article 6A (4) (on the direct, second-round presidential
\nelection):
\nIn the event that no president and vice president are elected in
\nthe first round, the president and vice president shall be
\nelected directly by the people from the two pairs of candidates
\nthat have received most votes in the first round of the election.
\nThe pair that receives the most votes in the second round shall
\nbe declared president and vice president.<\/p>\n
3. Article 16 (on the Supreme Advisory Council):
\nThe president shall establish a supreme advisory council, the
\nmain task of which is to provide advice and recommendations to
\nthe president.<\/p>\n
4. Article 23D (on the central bank):
\nThe state shall have a central bank whose composition,
\nresponsibilities and independence shall be established by law.<\/p>\n
5. Article 29 (1):
\nThe state shall be based on one supreme God. (Original text).<\/p>\n
6. Article 29 (2):
\nThe state shall guarantee the freedom of every citizen to adhere
\nto and observe his or her own religion and beliefs. (Original
\ntext).<\/p>\n
7. Article 31 (4):
\nThe state shall give priority to the education budget, which
\nshall account for a minimum of 20 percent of state and regional
\nbudgets, to meet the costs of national education.<\/p>",
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