New parties vow to amend Constitution

JAKARTA (JP): A number of leading political parties contesting the June 7 elections have pledged to amend the 1945 Constitution to facilitate the establishment of a true democratic Indonesia.

At least five parties -- the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) -- stated the present Constitution opens too great a leeway for the executive to abuse its powers.

They agreed that chapters in the Constitution enabled former president Soeharto, who was forced out of office in May last year by a student-led reform movement, to perpetuate his control of the country for 32 years in a "Constitutional manner".

"Amending the 1945 Constitution is one way to avert the recurrence of the totalitarian system of the New Order government," PUDI chairman Sri Bintang Pamungkas told The Jakarta Post in a recent phone interview.

One of PBB's deputy chairmen, Fadli Zon, told the Post separately of his party's wish "to prevent Indonesia from plunging back into another authoritarian rule" by also amending the Constitution.

The notion to amend the document, which during Soeharto's New Order regime would constitute a subversive act, was now no longer a far-fetched dream, especially as the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November had revoked its 1983 decree by a referendum.

The decree, supported later by the 1985 Law on Referendum, stipulated a referendum must be organized before the Assembly can review the Constitution.

Critics said Soeharto had intentionally thwarted any attempts to review the Constitution by creating a halo around it, making it a sacred, untouchable text, in order to maintain power.

The revocation of the decree therefore opened the way for revision.

The politicians agreed that foremost in the agenda for revision was the presidential and vice presidential terms of office.

"Both the president and vice president should only hold office for a maximum of two five-year terms," said Bintang, who was released from prison in May last year after serving a 34-month imprisonment for defaming Soeharto.

According to Article 7 of the Constitution, the president and vice president hold office for an initial term of five years, after which they can be reelected for an indeterminate number of times.

Sukarno, the country's founding president, and Soeharto held office for 22 years and 32 years respectively.

The Special Session of the Assembly in November also endorsed a decree limiting the presidential and vice presidential terms to a maximum of two five-year terms.

"That was not enough, the limitation of presidential and vice presidential office terms must be clearly stipulated in the Constitution," Bintang said.

PUDI and PBB have also entertained the possibility of direct presidential elections.

Article 6 of the Constitution stipulates the Assembly elect both president and vice president.

The politicians suggested the Constitution be amended so that it stipulate that all legislators be elected.

The post-election Assembly will consist of 700 members, including 238 non-elected members. They include 38 Indonesian Military (TNI) members, 65 representatives of interest groups and 135 provincial representatives.

The politicians added that a clear separation of power between executive, legislative and judicial institutions was one of the issues that should be stipulated in the Constitution.

The revised Constitution should also stipulate a guarantee for regional autonomy, fiscal balance between the central and regional governments, the separation of police from the military and human rights promotion.

The police force were separated from the military last month, a move which many hope will render it more independent and less repressive in maintaining law and order.

Separating the police from the military is one of the demands of the country's reform activists who wanted to see the police force return to its original role of enforcing law and order as opposed to acting as a combat force.

The politicians also agreed of the need of articles regulating that the Supreme Court should be equipped with judicial review powers.

Currently, an Assembly decree effectively bars the Supreme Court from reviewing laws, which are mostly sponsored by the government.

Criticism over the country's judicial system, especially its alleged partiality, stemmed from the fact that judges are considered members of the bureaucracy, due to their status as civil servants. According to the law, the courts are administratively and financially under the Ministry of Justice.

"Those who hold the Constitution cannot be amended are wrong; it's made by humans and not sacred," PKB deputy chairman Chofifah Indar Parawansa said on Sunday.

PKB would strive to amend articles of the Constitution until a "natural" power distribution was reached, she added.

PKP deputy chairman Sutradara Ginting shared Chofifah's opinion saying the amendments were needed to uphold the principle of people's sovereignty, "so there would no longer be a centralization of power".

Noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, however, warned recently that civil society may have to confront the military in any effort to amend the Constitution.

"The military regards the Constitution as its dogma and ideology," he said. (aan/byg)