Experts propose reduction of MPR power

Experts propose reduction of MPR power

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Experts have hailed a proposal by the Constitutional Commission
to strip the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) of its power to
amend the Constitution.

Politicians, according to the experts, must not be involved in
the amendment of the Constitution so as to avoid potential
conflicts of interest.

"Involving the politicians in the amendment process will only
create problems due to conflicting interests," Andalas University
lecturer Saldi Isra told The Jakarta Post Wednesday.

Saldi suggested that the commission promote the establishment
of an independent body to oversee the constitutional amendment
process.

Meanwhile, Smita Notosusanto from the Center for Electoral
Reform (Cetro) said that constitutional amendments should be
carried out by an independent body whose members were not
affiliated to any political party.

"The new body should be mandated to create a brand new
constitution," Smita said.

Both Saldi and Smita were commenting on the commission's
proposal to abolish the role of the MPR in the constitutional
amendment process.

Commission deputy chairman Albert Hasibuan said last Tuesday
that amendments to the 1945 Constitution should require national
referendums.

However, he did not say who or which state institutions should
have the right to draft constitutional amendments before they
were put to the public.

Under the existing system, the Assembly, the country's highest
legislative body, has the sole power to amend the constitution.

The MPR enacted a draft of amendments to the 1945 Constitution
last year, but experts have criticized them as being fraught with
contradictions and beholden to short-term political interests.

That prompted the Assembly to establish the Constitutional
Commission, with its main duty being to harmonize the amendments
made thus far to the 1945 Constitution. The Assembly, however,
still has the final say over an proposals the commission makes.

Saldi said that constitutional amendments must be the
responsibility of an independent body that would submit its work
to the Assembly for approval.

"If the Assembly rejects the work of the commission, the
amendment in question should then be put to a nationwide
referendum," Saldi said.

Apart from scrapping the Assembly's power to amend the
country's basic law, the commission has also proposed deleting
human rights articles from the Constitution.

According to the commission, human rights should be governed
by law, rather than being set in stone in the Constitution.

But Saldi and Smita both maintained that the articles on human
rights must be retained.

According to Smita, if they were to be deleted, there could
well be an increase in human rights abuses, Smita said.

"In many modern states, human rights are also enshrined in
their constitutions," she said.

She also criticized the proposal of the Constitutional
Commission that some of the jurisdiction of the Constitutional
Court be hived off to the Supreme Court.

These would include the jurisdiction to resolve electoral
disputes and disputes between state institutions, and to dissolve
political parties.

Smita argued that handing over of these powers would only
increase the pressure on the Supreme Court, which was still
laboring under a backlog of 15,000 cases.