Setting up constitutional commission as a solution

Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo Former Governor National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Jakarta

There seems to be a general acceptance that the constitutional problems Indonesia is facing should be solved by the establishment of a constitutional commission. Even the groups that originally were against any changes to the 1945 Constitution, are showing signs that they are not against a constitutional commission. It looks as if they have realized that there must be some compromise to avoid a total deadlock.

There are, however, many aspects that have to be considered before an effective constitutional commission can start work. First is its composition. The general opinion is that it should consist mostly of academicians and other experts. There is a feeling among people that they cannot trust politicians to achieve effective results.

Even the people who support the constitutional amendments made by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) are demanding improvement in the amendments. They think that this work should be done by experts and not politicians. But there are also people who want to have regional or provincial representatives in the commission to strengthen the deliberations of the experts.

Moreover political parties maintain that there must be a certain number of MPR members, who are members of political parties, to sit in the commission. If the commission is established by the MPR, as the highest legislative body, we can expect a heated and perhaps prolonged debate in the MPR about the composition of the commission.

An alternative is to have the President and the House of Representatives (DPR) decide on the commission. Here again, a long and heavy debate in the DPR is not improbable.

The second question is the timeframe for the commission. Logic dictates that the result of the commission's deliberations will be used as guidelines for the constitutional developments in 2004. In that year general elections will take place to elect the members of the DPR and other legislative bodies.

Besides, if the president and vice president are to be elected directly by the people, that also requires a lot of preparations. Therefore the commission must finish its work by the end of 2003.

It follows that the decision to establish a constitutional commission should be made now by the MPR, that is, in its Annual Session, and not in 2004 as stated by some people. Here again we can expect confrontation, especially by people who do not want constitutional amendments to become effective in 2004.

Political parties who are not in favor of direct presidential elections, for instance, will certainly oppose the establishment of a commission and the implementation of its results in 2004.

The third question is perhaps the most crucial, namely who decides and formally declares the commission's work valid. Equally important is the process of formal acceptance.

If the commission is a product of an MPR decision, then the MPR has the authority to decide on the commission's results. However, if that decision must be achieved through deliberation by the MPR, we will face the same problems we have today. The MPR should therefore make its decision without any deliberation.

A plenary session must be held to come to that decision without a debate. If the MPR rejects the commission's amendments, the only option is to hold a referendum to decide on the commission's work. We would need at least six months to prepare a referendum.

If the referendum cannot take place early in 2004, we will have problems in implementing the general elections and 2004 presidential elections. We must not forget that President Megawati Soekarnoputri's term will end in October 2004.

Looking at the many aspects and problems related to the constitutional commission, we can conclude that we face a massive task in establishing such a body and making it work effectively. However, if we do not want Indonesia to plunge into a constitutional deadlock with all its ramifications, there is no alternative to the establishment of the commission.

Since most of the decisions are to be made by the ongoing Annual Session, many things depend on the sincerity and understanding of its members. The world outside the MPR must try to influence them to develop the right attitude and demonstrate a sense of urgency and patriotism.

But since we want to build a truly democratic Indonesia, we have no choice other than to accept the fact that the decision is in the MPR's hands. We know that many of us are very dissatisfied with the attitude and work of the MPR members.

There are even some groups, mostly students and youth, that want to dissolve the present MPR and establish a new one. But we should be honest with ourselves to realize that such a move does not guarantee a change for the better. The people have already suffered a lot and deserve a much better life than what they have today.