Constitution needs total reform

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis has suggested a top-level meeting to radically reform the 1945 Constitution, once and for all, to lift the nation out of its present crisis.

Question: Maladies including political bickering and economic instability have dogged this country for three years now and there is very little sign that things will get better soon. How do you view this situation?

Answer: The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the President and the Supreme Court (MA) should sit down together to form a new constitutional reform commission. This commission should study the aspirations of the whole of society. What we need is not merely an amendment of the Constitution but its total reform.

We have lost a crucial two-year period (after Soeharto quit in May 1998) and thereby the momentum for reform. Having lost the momentum, we cannot do without radical constitutional reform.

Views have been aired by various parties on how to stem the crisis, such as the need to change the President...

The country's ailment cannot simply be remedied by changing the President, or by holding early elections, or by handing Gus Dur (President Abdurrahman Wahid) the second censure. What we need is a fundamental change in our Constitution.

Haven't there been efforts to reform the legal system such as the amendment of the Constitution or the drafting of the new regulation on corruption?

That's right, but the amendment of the Constitution, the first amendment and the second, have all been tarnished by narrow political interests. In what direction will they take this nation?

The same goes with the draft of the three political laws -- the elections law, the law on political parties and the law on the composition and structure of the MPR and DPR (the legislature).

Reading the draft one can immediately discern an absence of a paradigm in the constitutional amendment process and in their concept of amendment.

Ditto the new corruption law recommended recently by the President. This law will contradict MPR Decree No. 3/2000, and only demonstrates the incompatibility between the MPR and the executive.

What about the existing reform commission?

The erstwhile constitution reform commission set up by the President and headed by the respected lawyer, Harun Alrasyid, seems to have no clear concept either.

What we can do, actually, is to learn from neighboring countries. The Philippines, under then president Corazon Aquino, for example, managed to reform its Constitution known as the human rights Constitution. Thailand has also done so ... Its "people's Constitution" has strong checks and balances and it took them one year to reform it, they went around the country to tap the aspirations of all elements of society including politicians, intellectuals, NGOs, the grassroots, and members of the media. In Indonesia, we have yet to show our seriousness in reforming the Constitution.

When you said the MPR, the President and the MA should sit together to conceptualize radical constitutional reform, who should initiate this synergy?

Ideally, it should be a collective initiative by top leaders. Certainly, there should be a push from civil society to compel them to hold something like a law summit meeting, to initiate what can be termed a historical truce and benchmark.

When should these top leaders convene at the latest?

This August, although I have reservations on whether we can sustain these difficult conditions over the next four months.

Nevertheless, if we fail to start fundamental change in our life as a nation we will lose public trust. What is at stake in August is, not only the annual or special convention of the MPR to reach a new political compromise or a new Constitution, but also the necessity to mark a new historical milestone by avoiding self-imposed political destruction and by taking steps to rebuild an orderly life of the nation.

Do you see any silver linings?

The fact that small and middle-scale businesses are still running give us hope. Also, the substantial increase of our foreign exchange and the drafting of the new corruption law reflects some good trends and intentions, although there are some legal problems involved in the latter.

Having said so, all these have yet to contribute to political stability, which appears to remain a distant reality at the moment. (hbk)