Inconsistency found in Constitution

JAKARTA: The Constitutional Commission held a meeting on Wednesday to hear the opinions of its members on the four constitutional amendments conducted by the People's Consultative Assembly between 1999 and 2003.

During the meeting presided over by commission chairman Sri Sumantri, commission member Dahlan Thaib said he found some conflicting articles in the amended Constitution.

Dahlan said the Constitution states the president and vice president are elected by the people, but the Constitution does not specify the same for governors and other heads of lower regional administrations.

Direct presidential elections were approved in the second amendment to the Constitution in 2000, but the third amendment a year later failed to agree on the direct election of governors, regents and mayors only because Law No. 22/1999 on regional administration had not been revised. The law stipulates that heads of regional administrations are elected by local legislatures.-- JP