The halfway reform

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) must be commended for completing the constitutional amendment process at the just-ended Annual Session by relying largely on consensus rather than votes. Putting aside for a moment the substance of the amendments, we must pay tribute to the 695 Assembly members, particularly their leaders, for showing us that Pancasila-style consensual democracy is still very much alive in this country.

The MPR members have shown us that most political differences can still be resolved through deliberation and consensus. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the use of a vote as another democratic way of settling conflicts. But if differences can be ironed out through debate, then why put them to a vote?

No doubt some horses were traded between the political factions, particularly the ones with the most clout, on the way to reaching a compromise. We will probably be hearing about what exactly these factions compromised or gave up in the near future. But for the moment, let us simply rejoice at the MPR's achievement in making the nation a little more democratic by enacting the fourth set of constitutional amendments.

This fourth batch of amendments are the last in a series of changes the current MPR has made to the 1945 Constitution. When these Assembly members were elected (or appointed as the case may be for some) in 1999, one of their chief tasks was to amend the country's basic laws. The consensus then was that the 1945 Constitution was too vague a document, allowing authoritarian leaders to exploit the Constitution's weaknesses to serve their own political interests. It is no coincidence that two successive dictators ruled this nation for the first 50 years of its independence, until 1998.

The constitutional amendments enacted by the MPR since 1999 are not perfect by any measure. For many people, they are still far from the ideal that would put Indonesia on a path toward a prosperous modern state under democratic civilian rule. But the present basic law is certainly much better than the original 1945 Constitution in ensuring that power-mad dictators will no longer rule the nation. At the very least, the amended 1945 Constitution has stripped away some of the powers of the president and of the MPR, and restored them to their rightful owners: the people.

The fourth set of amendments should theoretically pave the way for the nation to organize the next general election in 2004, using a new system that is much more democratic than the one used in 1999. One of the more salient points in the Constitution after four series of amendments is that the people will be electing the president and vice president directly in 2004, taking that privilege out of the hands of the MPR.

Another major point is the introduction of a bicameral system comprising the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council, which together will make up the MPR. This amendment effectively eliminates the presence of nonelected representatives in either chamber.

Whatever reservations people may have about the way the 1945 Constitution was amended, nobody can deny that this is still a better document than the original text. Thankfully, there were enough reasonable people in the MPR who were willing to fight to ensure the completion of the amendment process last week. When the Annual Session began on Aug. 1, there were fears that some MPR members would deadlock the amendment process, leading the nation into a constitutional crisis and forcing a return to the dictator-friendly 1945 Constitution.

Realizing the shortcomings and imperfections of the four series of amendments, the MPR has also wisely approved the establishment of a new constitutional commission, which will be tasked with reviewing the whole process.

The biggest drawback of the four series of amendments is that they were enacted with little public participation, and therefore reflect more the interests of the major political factions in securing their places after 2004. Nevertheless, with the completion of the amendment process by the MPR, the battleground for constitutional change will shift to the commission once it is established.

But let us hope (for this remains unclear) that the nation will be able to organize the elections in 2004 based on the existing text of the basic law, without having to wait for the outcome of the debate in the new constitutional commission.

The fourth amendment process has paved the way for more democratic elections in 2004, but there is still plenty of work to do between now and then. The House will still have to prepare various legislations to accommodate the changes made to the Constitution, including a law on general elections, a law on political parties, a law on presidential elections and a law on the composition of the MPR.

Then there are the logistical aspects, from the registration of voters to preparations for counting the votes in 2004.

Nobody said the road to democracy would be short and painless. When this nation opted for reform rather than revolution, we chose the longer but more certain road to democracy and prosperity. Today, with the MPR having completed the constitutional amendment process, we are probably only halfway there. There is still a long way to go, and the road is bound to be filled with many more obstacles.

The struggle for reform is not over yet.