Experts share ideas on 'constitutional assembly'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three foreign constitution experts visited Indonesia's legislature on Wednesday, sharing their respective countries' experiences in establishing and running constitution assemblies.

Amara Raksasataya from Thailand, Sang-Hong Seo from South Korea and Ulrike Muller from the Federal Republic of Germany came here at the invitation of the Indonesian Peoples' Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Jacob Tobing, chairman of the MPR's special committee in charge of deliberating the possible establishment of a constitution assembly, said that the committee needed input from the three experts.

Indonesia is considering establishing a constitution assembly, whose jobs will include amending the constitution or drafting a new one. Many nongovernmental organizations have demanded for an independent body, while factions in the MPR insist the institution be part of the legislative body.

In his presentation, Amara said that his country began its assembly in 1997.

Thailand's assembly consists of 15 judges from different backgrounds, including three professors of politics and three professors of law.

"The combination is important to keep pluralism in the point of views of the members," said Amara.

Seo from Korea said that Korea's Constitution Assembly had nine senior judge members, all of them elected by the President. The members serve for six years and can be reelected.

Seo said the judges should have minimum legal experience for at least 15 years and not be affiliated to any political party.

Ulrike from Germany said that the Assembly in his country had 16 members, in which eight were chosen by the parliament with the rest being elected by the regional governments.

"The Assembly is the highest institution in Germany, which also serves as a judicial institution," he said.

The Assembly stands at the same level as the president and the parliament. They serve for 12 years, but they can't be reelected, said Ulrike.