MPR under fire over commission on constitution
JAKARTA (JP): The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has been criticized for its reluctance to respond to President Megawati Soekarnoputri's idea to establish an independent commission tasked to amend the Constitution.
Megawati launched her idea in her State Address on Aug. 16.
Law experts and observers voiced their concern on Saturday saying that the exclusion of the issue of the independent commission from the MPR's working body's agenda at the coming MPR annual session in November might affect constitutional reform.
"I hope that the President will be able to push her idea to set up an independent commission for constitutional amendment so that short-term political interests will not influence the amendment process," a prominent expert on constitutional law Sri Soemantri told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Another expert on constitutional law, Harun Al-Rasjid shared Soemantri's opinion, saying that President Megawati Soekarnoputri could push her idea through lawmakers of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).
Harun said that support for Megawati's idea was expected from all layers of society.
The MPR's working committee watered down an idea to establish an independent commission for constitutional reform last Wednesday when it excluded the issue from the agenda of its next yearly session. The committee argued that there was no MPR faction that proposed the idea.
It seems that the committee prefers the ad hoc subcommittee to a new commission for the amendment of the Constitution.
Chairman of the Indonesian Legal and Human Rights Aid Foundation (PBHI) Hendardi said that the MPR's stance toward Megawati's idea indicated its ignorance of public feeling.
Strong criticism against the Assembly also came from NGOs including the Coalition for a New Constitution, which consists of among others, the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), Rector Forum, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Women's Coalition, Indonesia's Independent Commission for Election Monitoring (KIPP Indonesia), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
"It is arrogant for members of the Assembly to reject the idea," the NGO coalition announced in a statement.
Pessimism
Smita Notosusanto of Cetro expressed her hope that Megawati would push the establishment of the independent commission.
But she expressed her pessimism that Megawati was not only motivated by goodwill on the founding of the independent commission for constitutional reform.
"She (Megawati) has expressed her support to establish the commission, but we still do not know their original idea, because lawmakers from her own party PDI-Perjuangan have different opinions on the idea," Smita said.
She cited, as examples, Jacob Tobing (from PDI Perjuangan), who chairs the ad hoc subcommittee, who turned down the idea.
Smita, however, expressed her concern that MPR speaker Amien Rais and the Chairman of Golkar Party, Akbar Tandjung, had rejected Megawati's idea.
Meanwhile, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said that Megawati was the key to the founding of the commission. However, he said he had not yet been well informed about the real idea of the commission.
"She (Megawati) must clarify what kind of a commission she means as what we really need is an independent commission to completely revise our constitution," Todung told the Post. (02)