New commission takes vacation
New commission takes vacation
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite their heavy workload, the 31 members of the
Constitutional Commission, which is in charge of harmonizing
amendments to the 1945 Constitution, have gone on a two-week
year-end vacation until Jan. 5, 2004.New commission takes vacation
Commission chairman Sri Soemantri said Monday that they had
agreed to take two weeks leave in deference to both Christmas and
the New Year festivities.
"We hope we will finish our work on time. We are doing our
job," Soemantri told The Jakarta Post.
The commission was established only in early August with the
task of harmonizing amendments to the 1945 Constitution, which
are widely believed to be deeply flawed, and the products of
short-term political interests.
The commission will have to report on its work to the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) in March next year, but to date no
consensus has been reached on any article of the Constitution.
While the commission has assessed 17 of the total 37 articles
in the Constitution, it has not yet produced any recommendations.
Soemantri said that commission members agreed to take leave
based on the practice of lawmakers in the House of
Representatives, who went on a three-week vacation on Dec. 20.
"We have encouraged commission members to go to remote areas
during the break. The commission has to hear the views of the
public," Soemantri said.
Separately, legislator Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United
Development Party (PPP) criticized the commission for going
around the country to obtain the views of the public on the
amendments.
Lukman, who took part in the deliberation of the amendments
from 1999 until their enactment, said the commission should limit
itself to assessing the amendments to the constitution within
seven months.
"All 31 commission members are experts and hail from all
around the country. They are here to assess the amendments made
by politicians, not to collect the views of the public," he said.
According to Lukman, the visits by commission members to the
provinces and its attempt to accommodate the views of the public
was only duplicating the work done by the politicians.
Baharuddin Aritonang of the Golkar Party, however, said it was
an entirely normal thing for the commission members to take
leave. "The most important thing is that they to do their job
properly," he said.
He suggested that the commission members focus solely on
assessing the amended constitution.
Aritonang criticized a proposal from some commission members
that an alternative constitution be submitted to the MPR, saying
that drafting of an alternative constitution would come within
the remit of the new MPR produced by the 2004 election.
Indonesia will hold a legislative election in April 2004, with
at least 24 political parties having been declared eligible to
contest it.
Following public pressure, the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) formed the Constitutional Commission to assess the
constitutional amendments passed over the last couple of years.
Soemantri further said that the commission had been divided
into two sub-commissions to deal with academic reviews and
recommendations respectively.
In a press conference last week, commission deputy chairman
Ishak Latuconsina revealed that the commission would offer an
alternative constitution when it finished its work in March next
year.
He said that one of the recommendations would be proposing a
one-round presidential election to reduce the cost, as well as
political tension.