Assembly's faction seeks review of third Amendment
Assembly's faction seeks review of third Amendment
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Interest Group faction in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has joined the fray with regard to the current constitutional debate, announcing that they will seek a review of the third set of amendments that were endorsed in November.
"We are for the amendment," Harun Kamil, who chairs the faction, told journalists on Wednesday. "But we disagree with some of the changes that were made in November."
The faction, whose very existence under the third Amendment will be abolished, has begun lobbying various political parties to reconsider some of the articles that were amended in November.
Confusion reigns over the constitutional amendment in the run up to the annual meeting of the MPR in August.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has even called for a gag order for members of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) until it establishes a clear stance on the issue later this month.
The MPR factions are still widely divided on the details of the proposed fourth Amendment. With consensus looking unlikely, some political parties, including a faction within PDI Perjuangan, the debate has now shifted from substance to the question of whether or not there will be a fourth amendment.
The MPR must decide one way or the other in August to allow the government to prepare for the 2004 general election.
The 1945 Constitution, as the present basic law is called because of the year it was drafted, has undergone three sets of amendments since 1999.
Lurking behind the debate is the long standing demand by various non-governmental organizations for the establishment of an independent commission, wholly separate from people in political positions, such as MPR members, to prepare a completely new Constitution. The groups have accused the MPR factions of using the power to amend in order to suit their own short-term interests, especially with a view to the 2004 general elections.
Among the most contentious points include the proposal for a direct presidential election, the establishment of a bicameral system and the creation of the Regional Representative Council, as well as the future of the MPR itself.
The entry of the Interest Group faction into the debate is complicating the issue because it is demanding a revision of the third Amendment. The group has 65 representatives in the 700- strong MPR, nominated rather than elected from groups as diverse as business, farmers and religious organizations.
"We're not doing this because we want to maintain our existence," Harun said.
The faction said its chief concern was that the changes made in November had departed from a consensus within MPR to amend, but not to overhaul the 1945 Constitution.
In its position paper issued on Wednesday, the faction said the third Amendment had virtually changed Indonesia from a unitary nation into a federalist system of government.
Under the third Amendment, the highest state institution, currently in the hands of the MPR, will be changed to a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council, modeled after the U.S. Congress.
This system would dispense of the need for an Interest Group faction, which in the original 1945 Constitution was recognized as necessary for non-political entities to be represented.
Separately, President Megawati on Wednesday gave her unequivocal commitment to continue with the constitutional amendment process as part of the ongoing political reforms, according to the chairman of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), Ermaya Suriadinata.
"We must not retreat on reforms," Ermaya quoted Megawati as saying during a meeting with a Lemhanas alumni group at the State Palace.
The President asked Lemhanas, a think tank group under the Ministry of Defense, to conduct its own studies and come up with proposals of which articles should be amended and which ones should not, Ermaya said.