Whither the national ethos?

Whither the national ethos?

In a comment on the ongoing debate regarding the amendment
process of the 1945 Constitution, Yislam Alwini in this column
(The Jakarta Post, April 22) stated that "no matter if the
Constitution is changed a thousand times, it will remain
imperfect".

Speaking of a constitution, even England, after all, is famous
for having no written constitution. Nevertheless, its legal
system works in an orderly way and its integrity is exemplary. Of
course, the Magna Carta is famous, dating back to June 15, 1215,
but it is not a full-fledged and comprehensive written
constitution.

Now, national political discourse is engaged in a relentless
debate on the process of the amendment of the 1945 Constitution.
Five groups or mainstreams of contestants can be distinguished
according to their respective stance taken vis-a-vis the issue.
Each of the groups has a political basis and rationale of its own
to plead its cause. For this reason, one must be aware that it
will be futile for any group to remain adamant about its
absolutist doctrine of self-righteousness or self-justification.

As in facing the problem of the desired amendments, there must
be no room for any of the contesting groups to take on a diehard
stance, alternatively, an attitude of enlightenment inspired by
broad vision, rationalism, pragmatism, and an accommodative
spirit of reconciliation must prevail among the groups.

What will be the judgment rendered by the people of the far-
flung outer regions, if the political elite in the nation's
capital fail to materialize at least the essential amendments? In
this context, the stance advocated by the coalition of NGO's to
create a new constitution must be fully reappraised as regards
the timing, momentum, and sense of urgency, notwithstanding the
fact that their aspirations and cause are well understood and
recognized. The latter belongs to the younger generation.

If Thailand, the Philippines and South Africa reportedly were
successful in updating their constitution, where is the
Indonesian state of mind, its national mentality or national
pride heading for, should the current constitutional process meet
a dead end?

S. SUHAEDI

Jakarta