Some factions against amendment commission

Some factions against amendment commission

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite strong support from People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
Speaker Amien Rais, several factions indicated an objection on
Thursday to the idea to form an independent commission in charge
of drafting a new constitution.

Representatives of the factions reiterated that the only
institution having the authority to amend the Constitution was
the MPR.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
Indonesia's largest political party, and the United Development
Party (PPP) and military factions insisted on Thursday that the
amendment had to remain in the hands of the MPR.

The resistance was not surprising as Amien, who was speaking
in his capacity as a legislator, revealed on Wednesday that a
conservative group remained powerful both in the Assembly and in
society.

At his meeting with activists from the coalition for a new
constitution, Amien expressed his support of the idea for either
a complete rewriting of or the creation of a new constitution.

Amien advised the activists to campaign for a totally amended
constitution which was badly needed.

The public campaign was vital to win the people's support
because the conservative group and the military had been trying
to block the constitutional reform as they considered it
disadvantageous to themselves.

Deputy Assembly speaker Agus Widjojo, of the military faction,
insisted on Thursday that the MPR was the only institution having
the authority to amend the Constitution.

"The authority to amend the Constitution is in the hands of
the MPR and it has been enforced through an MPR decree," said
Agus after a meeting of the military faction here.

Agus further said that the idea to declare the amendment as an
interim constitution constituted an alternative in the current
national discourse.

Thus, he said the thought to outline a new constitution would
need the agreement of the entire nation. The three-star general
did not elaborate.

Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the PPP questioned the reasons
behind the idea to declare the current Constitution and results
of three amendment as an interim constitution.

"If the result of the amendment is not ideal, I think it's
normal because the amendment is not final," he said.

According to Lukman, the people who were dissatisfied with the
MPR's performance could submit their opinions through the
existing factions in the MPR.

Commenting on an idea from the coalition of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and scholars for the establishment of an
independent commission to draft a new constitution, Lukman
challenged the activists to convince the 700 Assembly members
that the commission would do better.

The coalition, that has been campaigning for a new
constitution since 2000, insisted that the current amendment to
the 1945 Constitution was not sufficient for the nation to cope
with modern problems.

The activists said that the amendment process carried out by
an ad hoc committee of the MPR over the past three years was full
of loopholes which served the short-term interests of the
political parties.

They urged the MPR to establish an independent commission by
amending Article 3 and 37 of the Constitution which gives the MPR
the mandate for amendments.

Firman Jaya Daeli of PDI Perjuangan, meanwhile, said the call
to declare the Constitution as an interim or transitional
document would only spark debate on the validity of the
Constitution.

He suggested that the amendment be carried out simply on
articles urgently needed to build a political system. He was
referring to articles connected with preparations for the 2004
election.

Firman agreed neither with the idea to form an independent
commission nor to draft a new constitution. "Radical changes
would have a social and political cost," he said, adding that the
amendment to the Constitution had been agreed upon by the MPR.