Constitution 'must meet women's aspirations'
Kurniawan Hari and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The country's obsolete Constitution must either be amended or replaced with one that protects the interests and rights of Indonesian women, an activist says.
The executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), Wiwiek Awiati, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday the 1945 Constitution offered little protection to the country's women, who account for more than 50 percent of Indonesia's 214 million citizens.
"We want protection for human rights, including the protection of women and the environment," said Wiwiek, adding that the current Constitution provides only general, vague guarantees for women.
She also said woman representatives should be included if an independent commission is formed to either amend the existing Constitution or draft a new one, in order to accommodate the aspirations of women and guarantee gender equality.
ICEL is one of 62 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have been campaigning since 2000 for the establishment of a constitutional commission to amend or replace the 1945 Constitution.
This coalition of NGOs has proposed that a 99-member commission be set up to draft a new constitution. Commission members would consist of two representatives from each province, with one representative being a woman, and independent scholars.
According to Wiwiek, the inclusion of women's interests in an amended or new constitution can only be guaranteed if the amendment or drafting process is done by an independent commission.
Earlier, Saldi Isra of Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, said regions must participate in drafting a new constitution to protest regional interests and avoid overlapping authority between the central government and regional administrations.
Meanwhile, a constitutional expert urged the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Saturday to support the passage of a transitional constitution, in order to prevent a deadlock in deliberations of the amendments to the 1945 Constitution.
A transitional constitution must also be passed to provide a foundation for the 2004 elections, said Hadar N. Gumay of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).
"At least, there has to be minimum requirement for the amended Constitution, which is to provide the foundation for the 2004 elections," Hadar told journalists after addressing a discussion here.
Bills on elections and the composition of the MPR are being deliberated by the government, and are expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives in early May. However, because the bills must be in accordance with the Constitution, they cannot be passed until the MPR amends the 1945 Constitution, which will happen in August at the earliest.
And there is increasing concern that the current constitutional amendment process could become deadlocked, which would leaving the 2004 general election in limbo because of the absence of any legal infrastructure.
To prevent a deadlock, some quarters, including MPR Speaker Amien Rais, who is also the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), and Cetro, have urged MPR members to declare the amended 1945 Constitution a transitional document.