Scholars suggest permanent constitutional commission
Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The alumni association of Gadjah Mada University (Kagama) urged on Tuesday that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) insert a clause on the establishment of a constitutional commission in the draft amendment of Article 37 of the Constitution to provide a strong legal basis for the commission.
"This is crucial to give a constitutional basis to the commission. The amended article will also provide a binding force for the government and the House of Representatives to form the commission," Kagama chairman Ichlasul Amal told a media briefing at the MPR building.
By inserting the clause on the commission in the draft, the government and the House of Representatives would be bound to issue a regulation on the establishment of the commission as a permanent body, Kagama said.
According to Kagama, there are three means of setting up the commission: first, through the amendment of Article 37, second, through a transitional regulation, and third through an MPR decree. The alumni association proposed that the MPR amend the article, which would require that the government and the House issue a regulation on the commission. A commission established based on the regulation would have more power than one set up under a transitional regulation or an MPR decree.
Ichlasul argued that an MPR decree did not have a strong legal basis because it could be revoked any time at any given Annual Session.
"Moreover, according to Article 20 of the first amendment, the House of Representatives (DPR) has replaced the MPR as the supreme lawmaking body," he explained.
Chapters VII and VIIA of the second amendment state that the MPR is no longer the supreme lawmaking body. The third amendment, however, says that the MPR has the sole authority to form a constitutional commission and the commission would be placed under its jurisdiction.
Ichlasul, a former Gadjah Mada rector, added that the amended version of Article 37 should also mention that the structure, authority, task and working mechanism of the commission would be stipulated in a law.
The factions in MPR have agreed to deliberate the establishment of the commission after finalizing the fourth amendment draft in the ongoing Annual Session, which will end on Saturday.
Up to this point, the debate on the ideal form of the commission has not arrived at a consensus. Activists, experts, and the factions in the MPR each have different views on the form and role of the commission.
Experts and activists of the Coalition for A New Constitution have repeatedly stated that there is no reason to doubt the commission's ability to rewrite the Constitution as has been done in other countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and South Africa.
Vice President Hamzah Haz meanwhile said in his office that the commission would be assigned to make corrections to the amended Constitution and to absorb public aspirations.
"But the commission must not ignore the results of the four amendments to the Constitution," said Hamzah, who chairs the United Development Party (PPP).
Several candidates for commission leadership began to surface on Tuesday. A senior politician of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), AP Batubara, suggested that the best candidate to lead the commission was Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid "because of his progressive vision and strong commitment to the country's future".
He said that the PDI Perjuangan faction proposed that membership of the commission be restricted to academicians from various schools who were not under the influence of politicians and bureaucrats.
Besides Nurcholish, Batubara also named constitutional law experts Usep Ranuwidjaja, Jimly Asshidiqie and M. Solly Lubis as potential members of the commission.