Lawmakers show little interest in Constitutional Commission
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lawmakers with the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ad hoc committee (PAH) have shown little interest in the selection of Constitutional Commission members as few have attended the hearing process in the past few days.
The 44-strong ad hoc committee has been organizing a "public hearing" with 62 candidates since Friday, but on average less than half have attended the assessment.
The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) director Hadar N. Gumay said the poor selection process could setback the amendments to the 1945 Constitution.
However, some legislators defended the poor attendance, saying that the hearing was just a supplementary assessment.
"This hearing is only part of the entire selection process. We try to get more explanations from each candidate," said Alihardi Kiai Demak of the United Development Party (PPP) faction on Monday.
According to him, the previous process, which had selected 62 candidates out of 445 applicants, was more important.
The weight of the previous process was 75 percent while the public hearing was only 25 percent, he said.
Fellow legislator Hobbes Sinaga of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction concurred with Alihardi, saying the hearing was only supplementary.
"But, it will be much better if more committee members attend the hearing," he added.
Hadar said the poor attendance showed the unwillingness of the legislators to set up the Constitutional Commission -- tasked to synchronize the four amendments to the 1945 Constitution in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
He feared that the poor selection process would result in the selection of "wrong persons" that could disturb the amended Constitution.
"Figures who do not agree with amendments can be selected if the selection process is not good."
The Assembly's ad hoc committee has been questioning 62 candidates to explain their opinions about the constitutional amendment from Sept. 26 through Oct. 4.
Each day, the legislators assess the opinion of nine candidates. It was expected that the 31 members of the Constitutional Commission would be installed on Oct. 7.
Among the figures that have presented their opinions before lawmakers were Andi Muhammad Asrun, Surachman, Siti Musdah Mulia, Usman Hasan, Taufiqurrohman Syahuri, Munir Fuady, Harry Azhar Azis, Tisnaya Irawan Kartakusuma, Johny Mohammd Hidayat, Wasal Falah, Sudirman Said, John Pieris, Budiman Sinaga, Nur Syamsi Nurlan, Kaelany HD, Krisna Harahap, Sukma Adnan, and Soegeng Handoko.
After the hearing, each legislator scored the candidates on a scale of 50 to 100. The average score of each candidate will be made at the end of the selection process on Oct. 4.