Proamendment legislators dominate crucial commission

Proamendment legislators dominate crucial commission

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) looks likely to
endorse the fourth amendment to the Constitution after it
selected on Saturday proconstitutional-reform legislators for the
commission tasked with debating the crucial issue.

Leading the list are lawmakers known to be in favor of the
amendment, including Jacob Tobing of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Slamet Effendy Yusuf of
Golkar Party.

The 239-strong Commission A comprises 59 legislators from PDI
Perjuangan, 49 Golkar legislators, 22 legislators from the United
Development Party and 17 legislators from the National Awakening
Party. The Reform faction has 15 legislators, the Crescent Star
six, the Indonesian Nation and Unity faction five, the Daulatul
Ummah faction four, the Love the Nation Democratic faction one,
and the Indonesian Military (TNI)/National Police faction 14.

There are also 16 regional representatives and 31 legislators
from the Interest group faction in the commission.

Suwignyo of PDI Perjuangan, one of lawmakers who initiated
opposition to the amendment, said on Saturday there were 20
legislators opposed to the amendment in the commission.

"Although we are small in number, we will keep voicing our
views," Suwignyo said.

Fellow PDI Perjuangan legislators Amin Arjoso and Bambang
Pranoto, who are known for their opposition to the amendment,
will join Suwignyo in the commission.

Suwignyo claims to have won support from 110 PDI Perjuangan
legislators.

The group earlier claimed that legislator Taufik Kiemas, who
is the husband of PDI Perjuangan chairwoman and the country's
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, threw his weight behind the
move.

However, the party's faction in its general view on Friday
asserted its support for the amendment process as far as it did
not change the preamble of the 1945 Constitution.

Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung underlined that his party
supported constitutional reform, urging the MPR to go ahead with
the amendment.

"Just pass the amendment. If there are some flaws, we can fix
them during the next constitutional amendment," said Akbar, who
is also speaker of the House of Representatives.

The debate on the constitutional amendment heightened after
the TNI suggested that the country revert to the 1945
Constitution if the current amendment process ended in deadlock.

Many feared the return to the old constitution would encourage
authoritarianism, which would be counter to the current reform
movement.

Megawati's father, founding president Sukarno, issued a decree
stipulating the readoption of 1945 Constitution with full backing
of the military in 1959 after lawmakers failed to endorse a new
constitution. The decree marked the start of "Guided Democracy",
which observers criticized as a defeat for democracy in the new
country.

Legislator Sutradara Gintings of the Indonesian Nation and
Unity faction dismissed on Saturday the possible deadlock, saying
all factions had expressed their commitment to the amendment.