'Fourth amendment designed for synchronization'

'Fourth amendment designed for synchronization'

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) members on
Wednesday welcomed a proposal from scholars that the Assembly
should synchronize amendments made to the 1945 Constitutional in
the past three years.

However, they rejected suggestions that the fourth amendment
scheduled for August be aborted.

The legislators insisted that the fourth amendment to be
endorsed in August was part of efforts to synchronize and to make
systematic the first, second, and third amendments to the
Constitution.

"We are preparing the fourth amendment as well as
synchronization of the first, second, and third amendments," said
Jacob Tobing, chairman of the Assembly's ad hoc committee for
amendments (PAH 1).

Jacob, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), acknowledged that there were some inconsistencies in
the past amendments, therefore the legislators would advance the
final structure of amendment.

Yusuf Muhammad of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and
Baharuddin Aritonang of Golkar agreed, saying that the fourth
amendment to be pursued during the Assembly's Annual Session in
August would function as a forum to synchronize the amendments.

"The fourth amendment would be the most important and
strategic process and closely linked to the past amendments,"
said Yusuf who chairs the PKB faction in the Assembly.

Last month, members of PAH I suggested revising some of the
past amendments, saying several articles lacked coherence.

Aritonang added that the fourth amendment was also expected to
complete unfinished articles.

They include articles on the structure of the Assembly as well
as on direct presidential elections.

The three legislators were responding to suggestions from
scholars during a workshop organized by the alumni body of Gadjah
Mada University (Kagama).

The scholars recommended that during its Annual Session in
August, the Assembly must ensure the previous three amendments do
not contradict each other.

Head of the workshop's commission in charge of the amendment
process J. Kristiadi told participants that the Assembly should
only synchronize and make systematic the past amendments.

Kagama's head Ichlasul Amal recommended that the fourth
amendment be aborted due to increasing public resistance.

The public, mainly the coalition for a New Constitution,
claimed that the amendment process carried out by politicians in
the Assembly lacked a clear platform.

They charged politicians had put forward their own political
interests during the amendment process. Therefore, the amendment
was short-sighted as well as elitist.

Legislators, however, have denied the allegations, saying that
they invited independent scholars to comment on the amendments.

"They claim the amendment lacks a clear platform, but they
themselves don't understand what they're talking about," Jacob
added.

Jacob said that although the deliberation in the PAH 1 was
partial, the whole process of amendment to the Constitution was
comprehensive.

Calls to set up an independent commission to take over the
amendment process had yet to gain wide support within the
Assembly.

The country's largest party, PDI-Perjuangan supported the idea
of a constitutional reforms commission though he said it should
not be independent.