Regional reps set to have own faction in MPR
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Regional representatives in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) will finally be permitted to form their own faction when the assembly gathers for its belated Annual Session next month.
It remains unclear, however, whether the new faction will be formed at the start of the meeting, which opens on Nov. 1, or toward the end, according to the head of the MPR committee preparing the establishment of the faction.
The matter of when the faction is formed would be determined on the opening day of the MPR Annual Session, Rambe Kamarulzaman, the head of Ad Hoc Committee II told a media briefing on Monday.
Most factions had agreed in principle to the establishment of the new faction, Rambe said.
The question of timing is all that remains, he added.
MPR Speaker Amien Rais, who chaired the briefing, said the Annual Session would last between eight and 10 days, depending on how soon the Assembly members could complete their work.
The MPR is scheduled to endorse the third series of amendments to the 1945 Constitution, and at least five decrees. The decrees relate to the MPR's in-house rules and proceedings; national ethics; a vision of the future of Indonesia and the 2020 vision; the eradication and prevention of corruption, collusion and nepotism; and land reform and natural resources management.
Rambe did not rule out the possibility of other decrees in addition to the five already prepared by his committee.
There had been rumors about the possibility of factions proposing a decree on the establishment of a constitutional commission and another on emergency measures to ensure economic recovery.
Establishment of the regional representatives faction would be accommodated in the new in-house rules and proceedings.
The 130 regional representatives at the 700-strong MPR represents a potentially powerful block, but in the absence of their own faction, their voices, and votes, had been redistributed between the political factions at MPR proceedings.
The representatives, who were democratically elected, have demanded their own faction, arguing that the political factions were still too dominated by the interests of Jakarta-based politicians and often failed to represent the aspirations of the people in the regions.
Rambe cautioned that some existing MPR factions still had reservations about the establishment of a new regional representatives faction.
The regional representatives faction would become the third non-partisan faction in the MPR along with the faction for interest groups and the Indonesian Military/National Police faction.
The draft decree on Vision 2020 calls for the development of a society that is religious, united, democratic, just, prosperous, advanced and governed by a clean and good state.
The draft decree on the prevention of corruption calls for the enactment of various items of legislation dealing with such issues as the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, a witness and victim protection program, organized crimes and money laundering.
The decree for national ethics calls for a code of ethics in politics, business, law enforcement and science.
Slamet Jusuf Effendi, the head of the First Ad Hoc Committee debating the constitutional amendment, said there had already been a widespread consensus about using a direct presidential election system and about the introduction of a regional council that would function more or less like a senate.
Slamet said the proposed amendment would also expand the scope of areas of impeachable offenses against the president beyond merely political offenses as in the current Constitution.
The current MPR succeeded in impeaching President Abdurrahman Wahid in July, paving the way for the rise of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
For I-box
Decrees to be endorsed
at MPR Annual Session
1. Third series of constitutional amendments
2. New MPR rules and proceedings
3. National ethics
4. Vision of future Indonesia, including Vision 2020
5. Eradication and prevention of KKN
6. Land reform and natural resource management