MPR considers revision of amended Constitution

MPR considers revision of amended Constitution

Berni K. Moestafa and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three years after the first amendment to the 1945 Constitution,
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is now set to consider
revising amendments agreed upon earlier to ensure consistency
with the latest amendments.

Secretary to the MPR committee in charge of the amendment
process, Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening faction, said
some of the earlier amended articles lacked coherence with the
current revision.

He said suggestions then came up to revise articles under the
first amendment in 1999 to the third amendment last year.

"We're considering a revision that will lead to a more
comprehensive and systematic amendment to the Constitution," Ali
said.

Among the disputed items, Ali said, were Chapter 18 which
stipulates that governors, regency heads and mayors are not
directly elected by the people.

"Since we have agreed on a direct presidential election, it
seems odd now that governors are not directly elected," he said.

Also questionable, he said, was chapter 22 for lacking clarity
whether the presidential election should be held at the same time
or after the legislative election.

Another chapter was 28-I, which prevents a law from
implicating individuals with crimes that occurred before the law
was set up. The new chapter from the second amendment process has
blocked criminal charges against human rights abuses.

Ali Masykur said proposed revisions to the three amendment
packages would be presented before the MPR Annual Session in
August.

"The Annual Session will decide whether to accept the
proposals under the fourth amendment, or postpone their debates
until next year," he explained.

Attempts to revise them now comes amid recent criticism that
the committee lacked clear vision of the amendment process, while
haggling over short-term political interests also clouded their
views.

Committee member Theo L. Sambuaga of the Golkar faction said
the revision was not a setback if it produced a better
Constitution.

But Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United Development faction
said latecomers to the committee criticized the earlier
amendments.

He said several legislators called into question articles
without understanding their context, although some proposals
proved to be necessary. "Committee members should be those who
have been participating since the very start of the first
amendment," he said.

Executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro)
Smita Notosusanto said the plans to revise earlier amendments
showed the MPR lacked a clear vision to amend the Constitution.

She said debates over the military's political representatives
in the MPR until 2009 further showed the ongoing amendment put
aside reform demands over political interests. "This shows the
Assembly can't carry out constitutional reform."

Smita, a lecturer in the political science department at
University of Indonesia, has been arguing for an independent
commission to take over constitutional reform talks from the MPR.
"The commission should be tasked to draft a brand new
Constitution," she said.

Committee secretary Ali said that debates now centered on the
transitional and supplementary regulations of the Constitution.

"We are trying to avoid gaps in the law that may stir up
problems later in terms of relationships between state
institutions," he said.

The committee, he said, would hold closed door meetings with
constitutional experts before wrapping up talks in mid July, and
any unresolved issues would be taken up at the Annual Session.