Constitution needs total reform

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)