MPR Leadership Meets Constitutional Court Justices to Discuss Authority and Constitutional Interpretation

Discussions regarding constitutional authority and the interpretation of the 1945 Constitution emerged during a meeting between the leadership of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Constitutional Court (MK) at the MK building in Jakarta on Wednesday (8/7). MPR Speaker Ahmad Muzani stated that the visit was part of a national gathering aimed at strengthening communication between state institutions in safeguarding the constitution and the sovereignty of the people. “We conveyed that this is a national gathering between the MPR leadership and the MK leadership. We were received by the Chief Justice of the MK, the Deputy Chief Justice, and all constitutional justices,” Muzani said. According to him, the discussion also covered the possibility of amending the 1945 Constitution. Muzani noted that the MK provided various inputs regarding the discourse, while still respecting the MPR’s authority as the sole institution empowered to amend the constitution. “We also discussed several matters related to the amendment of the 1945 Constitution with the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court provided quite a lot of views and input,” he said. Muzani explained that if the MPR decides to amend the 1945 Constitution, the MK will carry out its duty to interpret and safeguard the implementation of the amendment results. “To date, the MK has performed this function for all amendments to the 1945 Constitution made in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002,” he said. He also explained that the meeting discussed a number of rulings and lawsuits related to constitutional interpretation. The MPR will follow up on rulings directly related to the interpretation of the 1945 Constitution, while other matters remain the domain of the legislature together with the House of Representatives (DPR). As a follow-up, the MPR and the MK signed an agreement regarding the submission of copies of MK rulings to the MPR to strengthen coordination and enrich understanding of developments in constitutional interpretation. Muzani explained that the President has reminded that discussions regarding constitutional changes must be conducted carefully and not in haste. The discussions in the meeting did not touch on cases that are currently being or will be examined by the MK.