Smita Notosusanto, crusader of constitutional change<\/p>\n
The fight for a new Indonesia, with a new constitution, will
\ndrag on for years, and possibly take more than 10 years,
\naccording to electoral reform activist Smita Notosusanto.<\/p>\n
Thus, campaigners for constitutional change like her need
\nunusually strong stamina so that they can maintain their efforts
\ndespite the seemingly hopeless situation.<\/p>\n
\"In the beginning, we supported the constitutional amendment
\nprocess. But now, we are demanding a new constitution for
\nIndonesia,\" said Smita, also a lecturer at the University of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
She said she and her fellow activists could no longer accept
\nthe constitutional amendment process being undertaken by the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
The MPR had betrayed the people, she said, by amending the
\n1945 Constitution without adequate public consultation.<\/p>\n
The most damaging amendments included those on human rights
\nand the strengthening of the MPR's power over constitutional
\nchange.<\/p>\n
\"Learning from these incidents, we can no longer trust the
\npoliticians to amend our constitution, moreover to write a new
\none,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Smita and her fellow activists grouped in the
\nCoalition of Non-Governmental Organizations for a New
\nConstitution are trying to mobilize support to demand that the
\nMPR stop the amendment process and allow the establishment of an
\nindependent constitutional commission to write a new
\nconstitution.<\/p>\n
Because of her consistent stance on constitutional reform,
\nSmita has become synonymous with the movement for a new
\nconstitution.<\/p>\n
The campaign for a new constitution is only one of her agendas
\nas an activist. Direct presidential elections are another.<\/p>\n
It's because of her latter campaign that she was harassed by
\nunidentified people, who kept on plaguing her with nuisance phone
\ncalls.<\/p>\n
Such harassment, however, has not been able to stop her from
\ncampaigning.<\/p>\n
Her next project will be a campaign for new electoral and
\nparty political laws.<\/p>\n
Her mission is to secure the inclusion of clauses on an
\nimproved electoral system, an ad hoc electoral court, improved
\ncampaign funding regulations, elections for governors and
\nregents, and an independent electoral commission.<\/p>\n
\"If we get three out of five included in a law, I would
\nconsider myself to have succeeded,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The most worrying issue, however, was that the bills were not
\nyet ready.<\/p>\n
\"This will be another challenge.\"<\/p>\n
Her active role in the coalition for a new constitution as
\nwell as in the Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO), where she
\nserves as the executive director, takes up most of her time.<\/p>\n
Free time is therefore scarce, and what there is is spent with
\nher husband and nine-year-old son.<\/p>\n
Born in London on August 24, 1961, Smita inherited her trait
\nas an educator from her father, the late writer turned minister
\nNugroho Notosusanto.<\/p>\n
Smita is now a lecturer in the Women's Studies Program and the
\nDepartment of International Relations at the University of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Because of her increasingly time-consuming activities as an
\nelectoral reform activist, Smita is no longer able to work as a
\nfull-time teacher for her students at the University of
\nIndonesia, where she built her reputation as an expert on
\ninternational affairs, especially relating to America.<\/p>\n
She was tasked to teach international affairs at the
\nuniversity, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in
\npolitical science, after she got her masters degree from the
\nFletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Boston,
\nthe U.S.<\/p>\n
She unintentionally changed her specialization from
\ninternational affairs to constitutional reform only after the
\nfall of former president Soeharto in 1998.<\/p>\n
In that year, Smita should have been in the United States
\nearning her doctoral degree. Instead, she went home. Just after
\nSoeharto stepped down, Smita participated in the establishment of
\nthe National Commission for Women.<\/p>\n
In the following year, Smita organized an election monitoring
\norganization, the University Network for Free and Fair Elections
\n(UNFREL), which recruited around 90,000 volunteers from among
\nuniversity students and teachers to observe the 1999 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
\"After the election, UNFREL was automatically dissolved as all
\nthe students had to go back to campus. We then established CETRO
\nto help reform the electoral system in Indonesia,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Her involvement in CETRO has changed her image from that of an
\nexpert on international affairs into an electoral campaigner.<\/p>\n
And she does not regret it.<\/p>\n
\"I realize now that it would be a lot more difficult to
\ninitiate change from inside the campus. Campaigning for change by
\ngoing out of the campus and meeting the people has turned out to
\nbe more effective,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/smita-notosusanto-crusader-of-constitutional-change-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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