New commission takes vacation<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite their heavy workload, the 31 members of the
\nConstitutional Commission, which is in charge of harmonizing
\namendments to the 1945 Constitution, have gone on a two-week
\nyear-end vacation until Jan. 5, 2004.New commission takes vacation<\/p>\n
Commission chairman Sri Soemantri said Monday that they had
\nagreed to take two weeks leave in deference to both Christmas and
\nthe New Year festivities.<\/p>\n
\"We hope we will finish our work on time. We are doing our
\njob,\" Soemantri told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The commission was established only in early August with the
\ntask of harmonizing amendments to the 1945 Constitution, which
\nare widely believed to be deeply flawed, and the products of
\nshort-term political interests.<\/p>\n
The commission will have to report on its work to the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) in March next year, but to date no
\nconsensus has been reached on any article of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
While the commission has assessed 17 of the total 37 articles
\nin the Constitution, it has not yet produced any recommendations.<\/p>\n
Soemantri said that commission members agreed to take leave
\nbased on the practice of lawmakers in the House of
\nRepresentatives, who went on a three-week vacation on Dec. 20.<\/p>\n
\"We have encouraged commission members to go to remote areas
\nduring the break. The commission has to hear the views of the
\npublic,\" Soemantri said.<\/p>\n
Separately, legislator Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP) criticized the commission for going
\naround the country to obtain the views of the public on the
\namendments.<\/p>\n
Lukman, who took part in the deliberation of the amendments
\nfrom 1999 until their enactment, said the commission should limit
\nitself to assessing the amendments to the constitution within
\nseven months.<\/p>\n
\"All 31 commission members are experts and hail from all
\naround the country. They are here to assess the amendments made
\nby politicians, not to collect the views of the public,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Lukman, the visits by commission members to the
\nprovinces and its attempt to accommodate the views of the public
\nwas only duplicating the work done by the politicians.<\/p>\n
Baharuddin Aritonang of the Golkar Party, however, said it was
\nan entirely normal thing for the commission members to take
\nleave. \"The most important thing is that they to do their job
\nproperly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the commission members focus solely on
\nassessing the amended constitution.<\/p>\n
Aritonang criticized a proposal from some commission members
\nthat an alternative constitution be submitted to the MPR, saying
\nthat drafting of an alternative constitution would come within
\nthe remit of the new MPR produced by the 2004 election.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will hold a legislative election in April 2004, with
\nat least 24 political parties having been declared eligible to
\ncontest it.<\/p>\n
Following public pressure, the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) formed the Constitutional Commission to assess the
\nconstitutional amendments passed over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n
Soemantri further said that the commission had been divided
\ninto two sub-commissions to deal with academic reviews and
\nrecommendations respectively.<\/p>\n
In a press conference last week, commission deputy chairman
\nIshak Latuconsina revealed that the commission would offer an
\nalternative constitution when it finished its work in March next
\nyear.<\/p>\n
He said that one of the recommendations would be proposing a
\none-round presidential election to reduce the cost, as well as
\npolitical tension.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-commission-takes-vacation-1447893297",
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