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.