Constitutional crisis looms

Constitutional crisis looms

The way things look, Indonesia is slowly but almost surely
heading toward a constitutional crisis. And not unexpectedly, for
a nation whose leaders are notorious for their lack of any sense
of crisis, few people seem to know or seem.

The present row over the constitutional amendment process has
exposed a wide gap between political parties, so much so that it
is almost certain they will not reach a consensus in time for the
annual meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in
August. The MPR's failure to endorse the proposed amendments, in
turn, will jeopardize the general election scheduled for 2004.

With the elections just two years away, the MPR has been
unable to agree on many aspects of the polls, which are supposed
to turn Indonesia into a more democratic country. While there is
a consensus on a direct presidential election, the political
parties are divided over the format of the election. And while
they have agreed on a combination of the district and
proportional representative systems, they differ on the exact
mix.

Then there are disagreements over the future of the MPR
itself, with plans to introduce a bicameral system and questions
over the future of the interest group faction. All of these
issues are contained in the Fourth Amendment package that is
meant to be brought before the MPR for endorsement in August.

But the gulf is so wide, and may still be widening, that a
consensus by August looks to be a remote possibility. The debate
between the major players in the constitutional amendment process
has even shifted away from the substance of the amendments to the
question of whether the process itself should continue.

The debate has also shown that the political parties, in whose
hands rests the fate of the 1945 Constitution, and therefore the
future of this nation, are approaching the matter with an eye on
the 2004 elections. They are acting more in the interest of their
parties than in the interest of the nation. Even if the MPR
reaches a consensus, we know it will be the result of political
horse-trading among major players to keep power for themselves.

Delays in amending the Constitution's articles on elections
have raised concern that the 2004 general election could be put
back.

The government, wary of the prospect of a deadlock, has taken
the initiative of drafting new legislation on elections and
political parties even before the constitutional amendment
process is completed. The bills will be submitted to the House of
Representatives in May or June. It is uncertain whether the bills
were drafted on the basis of the existing Constitution, or on the
amended version as perceived by the government.

At the risk of being forced to redraft the bills to
accommodate eventual changes to the Constitution, if and when it
is amended, the government argues that it needs to prepare early.
Voter registration and other election-related affairs are time-
consuming and should begin as early as possible if they are to be
completed in time for 2004.

Indonesia now faces three possible scenarios in 2004: the
elections will not take place; the elections will be held using
the old 1999 laws; the elections will take place using new laws
based on the amended Constitution, which is bound to be flawed
because it is the outcome of political horse-trading.

But any way you look at it, political reform, the goal of this
whole exercise in amending the basic laws of the country, will
not be served. Even if Indonesia survives a constitutional
crisis, we know reforms will continue to move at a snail's pace
at best, thanks to a bunch of self-centered politicians whose
only concern is their personal power and where they will be in
2004.

Maybe if our politicians realized that they were plunging the
country deeper and deeper into a constitutional crisis, they
could see their way clear to establishing an independent
commission to amend the Constitution.

The group currently in charge of the constitutional
amendments, the MPR's Ad Hoc Committee I, whose members are drawn
from the political factions in the Assembly, is wrought with
vested interests, with each faction wanting to make sure that it
stands the best chance of winning the 2004 elections. They, of
all people, are the last people or organization we should entrust
with the honorable task of amending the Constitution, and thus
deciding our future.