Todung warns of constitutional vacuum

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With just one day to go until the convening of the People's Consultative Assembly Annual Session, noted legal practitioner and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis warned of a possible vacuum should the political parties not agree to proceed with the constitutional amendment process.

He further warned that such a situation could allow the Indonesian Military the opportunity to force the nation to reinstate the unamended 1945 Constitution.

According to Todung, the ongoing political guerrilla warfare the parties were waging could lead to a constitutional crisis and thus pave the way for the military to force a return to the unamended Constitution.

Under the 1945 Constitution, which is a simple, uncomplicated document, the military might hope to regain the power it held for more than three decades during the New Order era.

Should a deadlock emerge during the Annual Session, it would be the latest in a series of reinstatements of the original 1945 Constitution due to failures to agree on a new or improved constitution.

Under pressure from the powerful Army, founding president Sukarno issued a decree on July 5, 1959, restoring the 1945 Constitution. But ten years later, he was impeached by the Interim People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), leaving the door open for the Military under former president Soeharto.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), concurred and said the political elite should unanimously endorse the fourth batch of amendments after the synchronization of all of the chapters to be amended.

He called on all factions in the Assembly to accept the proposed new set-up for the MPR so as to rid the legislative system of non-elected members.

Under the proposed bicameral legislative system, the Assembly would consist of the House and a Regional Representatives Council whose members would be elected via general elections, he explained.

Ikrar said that the proposed new legislative system was in line with the political bills currently being deliberated by the House, which envisaged the phasing out of non-elected seats for the military and the National Police in the House. Instead, members of the military and police would have the franchise restored but would be required to leave their respective forces should they wish to enter politics.

Both the military and the police have opposed the bills, saying that they still needed until 2009 to get out of the MPR.

There was a possibility that the nation could witness a repeat of its past constitutional history as TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto signaled on Tuesday that the military would support President Megawati should she decide to issue a decree liked the one her father issued reinstating the original 1945 Constitution.

Meanwhile, the major factions appear to be still at odds over many of the more controversial changes contained in the fourth raft of constitutional amendments.

The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) are still divided over the Assembly's composition and, maybe, the possibility of a second run-off round in direct presidential elections. Meanwhile, the National Awakening Party is set to oppose the amendments in the absence of an independent constitutional commission.

Furthermore, the minority Islamic parties are still trying to have the Jakarta Charter on sharia inserted in Chapter 29 of the Constitution.

The PDI Perjuangan is also divided internally over the constitutional amendment process with a group of its legislators supporting the military's suggested return to the unamended Constitution.

Meanwhile, Arifin Panigoro, chairman of the PDI Perjuangan faction in the Assembly, brushed aside a possible deadlock as his faction had no more problems with the fourth batch of amendments and was ready to endorse them during the Annual Session.

"We are not going to reject the last three amendments. Just because we disagree with certain articles doesn't mean that we want to return to the original form of the Constitution," Arifin said.

He underlined that the party would only want to see the original form of articles being used in the case of certain contentious ones, such as article 29 on religion.

Arifin admitted that there were dissenting opinions inside the party regarding the amendment process but said these would not stop the party from endorsing the amended Constitution.

Vice President Hamzah Haz ruled out a possible deadlock, saying there would be no vacuum or transitional constitution.

"We have only two choices: To accept the amendments or restore crucial articles to their original form," said Hamzah, who is also chairman of the United Development Party (PPP).