Assembly working group blasted over constitutional amendments

JAKARTA (JP): A coalition of non-governmental organizations has slammed a People's Consultative Assembly working group for trying to draft constitutional amendments, which they claim were laden with political interests, without proper public scrutiny.

The Civil Society Coalition for a Constitutional Commission, in a statement here on Wednesday, charged that the working group was, without transparency, deliberately conducting an amendment of the 1945 Constitution.

The Coalition claimed that public participation on the amendments was deliberately being impeded.

The current amendments being drafted are due to be brought before the Assembly's annual session in August.

The Coalition pointed out that the working group had established a Team of Experts as both justification and rubber stamp to show that these proposals had been reviewed, in order to push the amendments through without public scrutiny.

Without specifying the controversial draft articles, the Coalition, in their statement, said that their previous proposal in February to establish a Constitutional Commission to draft a new constitution had been rejected by an Ad hoc Committee of the working group. This was despite the fact that it had full authority to carry out the drafting in a transparent and participative manner.

Instead, the Ad hoc Committee established a limited Team of Experts to give their opinions on the draft.

However, the scope of this new Team is severely limited and has been given a tight deadline of March 29 to give their opinions on the draft.

When the Team of Experts on Tuesday proposed they be given greater authority to draft a new constitution, this was also rejected by the Ad hoc Committee.

"In short, with the limited authority and time given, the Team of Experts is merely being used as a tool to legitimize the Assembly's work as if the Assembly had tried to conduct amendments in an objective manner," the Coalition said.

The Coalition comprises 17 NGOs which include the Center for Electoral Reform, the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, Indonesian Corruption Watch, the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment.

"How can the most basic and fundamental principles and laws of the nation state be drafted under a cloak of secrecy and without public participation?" the Coalition asserted.

In a three-point conclusion the Coalition asserted their rejection of amendments conducted by the Assembly and demanded that the forthcoming Assembly session establish a new Constitutional Commission with full authority to draft a new constitution.

They further called on the Team of Experts to withdraw any support and participation from the Assembly's Working Group. (mds)