NGOs reject MPR version of constitutional commission

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) grouped in the National Legal Reforms Consortium (KRHN), rejected on Friday the planned establishment of a constitutional commission on technical grounds.

The organizations said in a statement that the draft decree, initiated by a working committee of the People's Consultative Assembly, still contained a host of flaws.

Firmansyah Arifin, chairman of the KRHN, said that under the draft law, the commission would not be independent but would be part of the Assembly's working committee.

"Independence is a must for the commission as to prevent it being influenced by political interests," Arifin said during a media conference here.

He was referring to the draft decree submitted by the working committee, which is set to be deliberated during the ongoing MPR Annual Session here.

The draft decree was prepared following an MPR ruling last year that a constitutional commission tasked with reviewing the amended 1945 Constitution must be established this year at the latest. This ruling was stipulated in MPR Decree No. 1/2002 on the establishment of the constitutional commission.

Reviewing the Constitution has to date been the responsibility of the MPR, but the country's supreme law-making body made an unprecedented departure last year, suggesting that only a constitutional commission should be entitled to review the amendments made so far to the 1945 Constitution.

The consortium demanded that the authority of the commission not be limited solely to conducting studies and reviewing the amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

"The commission must be granted the right to amend the Constitution in whole or draft a new constitution so that the role of the commission will be more meaningful." Arifin said.

He suggested further that the commission consist of more than the proposed 31 members.

"Each province nationwide must be sufficiently represented, and the members must be experts in various fields. Thirty-one is clearly inadequate," the activist said.

According to the draft decree, reviewing the amendments of the 1945 Constitution will be the main task of the commission. The 1945 Constitution, which was deemed sacrosanct by the Soeharto regime, has been amended on a number of occasions since the former strongman's downfall.

These amendments were enacted in the wake of the reform movement, which emerged in 1998, and brought about various changes to the state's legal structures.

The draft decree, copies of which were made available on Friday, sets out the structure, powers and provisions concerning the membership of the constitutional commission.

The structure of the commission will consist of a chairman, two deputy chairmen, one secretary and one deputy secretary. The commission will report to the Assembly's working committee.

According to the draft decree, the commission will have the power to study any documents or other resources regarding the amendment of the 1945 Constitution. The commission will also have the power to conduct research, analyses and reviews of the amendments made to the 1945 Constitution.

Regarding membership, any Indonesian citizen is eligible to serve as a member of the constitutional commission so long as he has a wide understanding of nationhood and has proven himself capable of scrutinizing the amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

It is also stipulated in the draft decree that the commission will consist of 31 members to be selected by the Assembly working committee.

The members of the commission are to be appointed within 60 days of the issuance of the decree at the latest.

The draft decree also rules that no vote will be required on the reviews conducted by the commission.