Commission on Constitution possible: MPR
Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite the growing public demand for an independent commission on the Constitution, Ad Hoc Committee II of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has decided to exclude the issue from the agenda of the upcoming MPR Annual Session, due to start on Nov. 1, 2001.
Nevertheless, the independent commission on the Constitution issue can still be taken up during the annual meeting, provided that one or two MPR factions request it.
"Basically, we are still open to adopting public input on the independent constitutional commission," Rambe Kamarulzaman, the head of Ad Hoc Committee II, told a media briefing on Monday.
Ad Hoc Committee II, in charge of preparing the MPR decree drafts to be endorsed during the Annual Session, has prepared five MPR decree drafts.
The five drafts include those on the MPR's in-house rules and proceedings; national ethics; a vision of the future of Indonesia and the 2020 vision; the eradication and prevention of corruption, collusion and nepotism; and land reform and natural resources management.
Rambe said the committee decided to exclude the issue of an independent constitutional commission since only the Assembly has the authority to amend the country's Constitution.
"We don't see any urgency or relevance of forming an independent constitutional commission. If the commission's task is just to assist us in amending the Constitution, then what's the difference with the job of the expert team already on the committee," Rambe told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a session between the Assembly and the editors' club.
Earlier, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legal experts submitted a proposal to the MPR to form an independent constitutional commission to amend the country's Constitution.
The NGOs and legal experts feared that the absolute right to amend the Constitution that is granted to the Assembly may be prone to manipulation by political parties in the Assembly for their own interests.
The proposal first received a positive response from the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Golkar Party in September. Later Golkar revoked its support for the commission.
Rambe said if the MPR agreed to establish the commission, the Assembly would have to revoke Decree No. 9/2000, which grants the Assembly's working committee to prepare the amendment of the Constitution.
Haidar Gumay, an advocacy director of the Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO), lamented the Assembly's decision to exclude the issue of an independent commission on the Constitution from the agenda, saying lawmakers had played around with their own promises and fooled the public.
"They agreed to include the constitutional commission issue in the Annual Session, but now they have dropped their own plan, effectively eliminating public trust in them," Haidar told the Post on Monday.
Haidar said Assembly members misinterpreted the NGOs' demand.
The constitutional commission will surely differ from the Ad Hoc Committee II's expert team, as the commission will have wide- ranging authority in drafting the amendment, Haidar said. After being prepared by the commission, the Assembly should only reject or accept the draft amendment without any changes, he said.
"The people don't have a vested interest. What the public want is a process that allows them to participate in the constitutional amendment process," he said.