Watch out maneuvers beyond MPR annual session

The ongoing backroom political dealing has one end goal: The cancellation of all amendments to the 1945 Constitution which will lead the country right back to authoritarianism, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said during an interview with The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti.

Question: You have raised fears of a return to the 1945 Constitution; while major political parties have denied that they want to delay the implementation of amendments to the Constitution to 2009. Your comment?

Answer: We have indeed seen a number of deals between political parties, who have so far rejected the fourth amendment process, which by their (party representatives') statements seem to have reached some meeting point (with demands of "reformist" elements). But these deals cannot be said to comprise a genuine consensus because they are still preliminary, if not superficial.

This is because they are not clear yet; can crucial clauses such as those regarding direct presidential elections be executed in 2004; and can the Regional Representatives faction be replaced by members who are only directly elected?

So there is no guarantee yet that the amendment process will go smoothly given the political guerrilla war going on.

Which ones in particular?

For instance the demands by chapters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) that the amendment process be dropped altogether; and statements by retired military officers that the amendment process has violated the Constitution. And there are other moves to change clause 29 on the freedom of religion.

So there are a number of maneuvers which have the potential to lead to a deadlock in the coming Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which we take as a conditioning towards the return to the old constitution.

Whether in the upcoming MPR session or beyond it, we must look out for the possible issuance of transitional rules (peraturan peralihan) related to the amendments, that all the amendments will be implemented only in 2009; while in fact the first to third amendments are already effective.

Is the condition really similar to the 1950s?

Although the situation is not as acute, but the conditioning is there. If (the maneuvers) succeed, the political situation could heat up and influence decisions made in the Annual Session and beyond; and it will be like we're living back in 1957-1958 when the president and his supporters deemed the constitution commission to have failed, which led to demands to return to the 1945 Constitution and finally the July 5 1959 Decree.

We'd be back to an authoritarian regime because the 1945 Constitution does not recognize the division of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive branches, with almost absolute power for the president.

Is it heartening that the Regional Representatives faction is now among those who agree to a direct presidential election if no candidates acquire a majority vote?

This is just a trade off for keeping them in the MPR. Those representing reformists have demanded that such factions who are not elected no longer remain in the MPR, including the military and police.

So what can be done by the Coalition of NGOs for a New Constitution (of which Cetro is a part)?

We are inviting experts from the regions to lobby legislators ahead of the Annual Session; we hear a delegation from Parliament in the United Kingdom will also be monitoring the process. Hopefully we can appeal to the legislators' common sense. Legislators have said we only represent Jakarta so these experts from the regions will show them that those representing the movement for reform are from all over the country.

What does all this resistance towards amendments, let alone a new constitution, imply?

It reflects fears of the implication of democracy; fears of social control which can oversee the ruling powers, that the winds of change towards democracy will endanger the power structure. Have you given up calls for an independent constitution commission?

The Coalition's position has been that if the fourth amendment cannot be stopped, the fourth amendment and the 1945 Constitution should be declared as a transitional, ad interim, constitution.

Now it's become too premature to talk of an independent commission given all this political guerrilla tactics, whose only aim is to annul the amendment process altogether.