Commission limits tenure of legislators
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators may no longer sit in the House of Representatives (DPR) indefinitely if the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) adopts a proposal of the Constitutional Commission, which is currently harmonizing amendments to the 1945 Constitution.
The commission, whose members comprise 31 experts, has suggested that one can be a legislator for a maximum of two five- year terms only, either consecutively or with an interval, in order to create a power balance between the legislative and executive branches.
"There is a limitation to the presidential term, so we are limiting the term of legislators. It is designed to maintain a balance between them," commission member Albert Hasibuan told the media on Tuesday.
Currently, legislators may be elected repeatedly, depending on what political party they belong to. Some legislators now in the House have been there for more than two decades, despite their poor performance.
The commission, whose work requires the approval of the MPR, has tabled its proposal as part of revisions to the 1945 Constitution.
Article 19 of the draft revision says that the official term of House members is five years and they can be reelected for another five-year term only.
Citing Lord Acton's dictum that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, Hasibuan said that the limitation was also aimed at reducing corruption.
According to him, corruption should not simply be perceived as the amassing of state money, but also ignoring state duties and performing poorly.
The House has come under fire lately due to its notoriously disappointing performance in deliberating bills.
Assembly member Baharuddin Aritonang welcomed the proposal to limit the tenure of legislators, saying that it would help improve the performance of the House.
Aritonang, however, said the proposal would unlikely receive the support of existing assembly members.
"Essentially, I accept that idea, but the assembly considers the amendment as final. We can only expect approval from the new legislators after the April 5 election," he told The Jakarta Post.
The commission was set up by the MPR with the task of harmonizing amendments to the 1945 Constitution. The final decision, however, still rests with the MPR, which under existing legislation has sole authority to amend the Constitution.
The commission also moved to reduce the power of the House in appointing ambassadors.
Under the existing legislation and Constitution, the president should consult the House before naming ambassadors. The commission has scrapped the stipulation, saying that the appointment of ambassadors was the prerogative of the president.
The commission also clearly suggested that the heads of regional administrations, be they provinces, municipalities, or regencies, will be elected directly by the people.
The direct election of regional heads is designed to keep it consistent with the direct presidential election.
Hasibuan acknowledged that although commission members had finished the draft revision, several items still needed to be corrected.
The commission has planned to make the corrections within the next two weeks before presenting the final draft to the Assembly next month.