PDI-P, Golkar reject inclusion of Jakarta Charter in Constitution

JAKARTA (JP): An attempt to include syariah Islam (Islamic law) in the 1945 Constitution looks certain to stall after two major factions in the People's Consultative Assembly -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Golkar Party -- confirmed their opposition to the proposal on Wednesday.

The two factions, which between them hold 367 of the 700 Assembly seats, are of the opinion that amending the Constitution to include syariah could lead to national disintegration.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said the party's faction had been instructed not to touch on such sensitive matters in deliberating constitutional amendments during the Annual Session. Another issue Golkar will avoid is the military's presence in the Assembly.

"We have decided not to make changes to Article 29 of the Constitution concerning the state and religion because it is a sensitive issue that could pose a serious threat to the nation's unity," Akbar said after a meeting of the Golkar faction here.

The United Development Party (PPP) and several minority Muslim factions have proposed the adoption of Islamic law as stipulated in the Jakarta Charter, one of several constitutional drafts deliberated by the nation's founding fathers, on the grounds that Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country.

Akbar, who is a Muslim, said the proposed phrase kewajiban menjalankan syariah Islam bagi para pemeluknya (an obligation for Muslims to comply with Islamic law) negated the fact that the nation was comprised of various races, ethnic groups and religions.

"The predominantly Muslim country must accept the existence of minority groups if we are committed to maintaining national unity," he said.

Postdam Hutasoit of the PDI Perjuangan faction agreed, saying the nation's heterogeneity had been unanimously accepted in order to maintain national unity.

"Considering the pluralism and the prevalent sectarian violence, our faction has taken a firm stance on not making any changes to Article 29 (of the Constitution on religion). Its formulation must be maintained as it is," he said after an internal meeting of the faction.

He said his faction had consulted with Golkar representatives and lobbied several other factions, including the Indonesian Military/National Police faction, over the issue.

"And we agreed on the present formulation, which says 'the state is based on the belief in God's Oneness,'" he said.

Jacob Tobing, the chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee that made all necessary preparations for the constitutional amendments, conceded that major factions in the committee rejected the proposal to adopt the Jakarta Chapter due to suspicions that the move was aimed at attracting the support of Muslims.

"Some principle ideas, including religion, are already final and should not be deliberated anymore because the present formulations were decided by the founding fathers in order to maintain national unity," he said.

The chairman of the Indonesian Military/National Police faction, Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno, said it would be a waste of the Assembly's energy to discuss such sensitive issues because it would only cause friction among the nation's components.

"Why should we discuss such a risky issue while the present formulation in the Constitution has not cause friction among the people?" Hari said.

He called on the Assembly to focus on other articles in the Constitution that needed to be amended to make them applicable in the reform era.

"Amending fundamental things that were already agreed upon in the past and have been implemented smoothly will only reopen historical wounds," he added.

Hari expressed confidence the Annual Session would choose not to amend Article 29 without taking the issue to a vote.

"I really hope something that is very fundamental, like this article, will win the support of all members of the Assembly," he said.

The chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, Taufiqurrahman Saleh, echoed these opinions, saying his faction has no plan to support the amendment of Article 29 because discussion of the issue had ended long ago.

"The country's founding fathers finished discussing this principle issue. We don't need to argue about that anymore," Taufiqurrahman said.

Meanwhile, Hamdan Zoelva of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction, said his faction would continue its fight for the adoption of the Jakarta Charter.

"Let's look back on the 1945 Constitution through the monumental 1959 presidential decree that clearly stipulates the Jakarta Charter was considered the Constitution's soul. So we just have to put the seven words back into the Constitution," he said.

He said it was natural to adopt Islamic law because the majority of Indonesians were Muslim and Islamic law would not prevent them from supporting religious tolerance. (rms/dja)