Experts warn of dealing on amendments
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly draws near, experts are warning of possible backroom dealing by politicians seeking to smooth the way for amendments to the 1945 Constitution.
The two largest factions in the Assembly, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the Golkar Party, already have tacitly agreed to resolve their differences on the two most crucial issues surrounding the amendments -- the composition of the Assembly and the system for the presidential election.
The factions also appear to have reached an agreement to retain nonelected representatives of the military and the police in the legislature until 2009.
Sri Soemantri, a constitutional law expert from Bandung-based Padjadjaran University, slammed such backroom dealing between the Assembly factions, saying it would ultimately damage the substance of the Constitution.
"Those factions should see the importance of the Constitution as the basic law for the long-term life of this nation and country, and not as a project involving political interests," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Soemantri said legislators should not bargain over the principles of the reform movement, which among other things demands direct presidential elections and an end to nonelected seats in the legislature.
Hadar N. Gumay from the Center for Electoral Reform agreed, saying the country should abandon all forms of nonelected representation, which he said undermined democracy.
Non-party groups such as the Indonesian Military could still play an important role from outside the legislature, by providing elected representatives with their opinions, suggestions and criticisms.
"This is more effective. Many developed countries like the United States have done this. The main point is the aspirations (of these groups) are still heard and accommodated by political parties," he told the Post.
The Assembly's ad hoc committee on the constitutional amendments is slated to meet on Monday to debate a supplementary article that would grant seats in the legislature to the military and the police until 2009.
The feeling among politicians on the committee is that they would prefer to retain the military and police's seats in the Assembly through the supplementary article, according to Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Ali, the secretary of the ad hoc committee, nevertheless said the committee members would likely reach deals on the composition of the Assembly and the system of presidential elections.
As for the composition of the Assembly, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is likely to compromise and accept a proposal from Golkar and the PKB -- that the Assembly will consist of legislators from the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council.
This means that all members of the House and the Assembly would be elected through general elections.
As for presidential elections, Golkar and other factions appear ready to go along with PDI Perjuangan's proposal that if no candidate wins in a direct election, the second round of the presidential election would be carried out by the Assembly.
Both Soemantri and Hadar criticized this proposed system, saying the people, not the Assembly, must be the ones to elect their leaders.
"If the election is held in the Assembly, as suggested by PDI Perjuangan, then it is not a direct election," Soemantri remarked.
Hadar added that should no presidential candidate secure the required number of votes, the top two vote-getters should go forward into a run-off election.
He said that holding a run-off presidential election would not be as expensive as holding the first round, at about 30 percent to 80 percent of the cost.