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.