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Tuesday, September 2, 2008 | 03:00 WIB

Jakarta, Kompas – Forming a commission to study comprehensively about the amendment of the 1945 Constitution has to be done through the agreement reached in the Assembly Meeting of the People s Deliberative Assembly. Establishing the Commission can not be done by Speakers of the Higher Parliament because they did not have the authority for that.

That was the opinion of a member of the Constitutional Court, Akil Mochtar and member of the Fraction of United Development Party, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, separately, Monday (1/9) in Jakarta.

According to Akil, Speakers of the Higher Parliament were only possible to put the forming of the commission in the agenda in the Assembly Meeting of the Higher Parliament. ”Speakers of the Parliament do not have the authority. But, if they schedule a meeting, it is fine,” explained Akil. Nevertheless, that was still raising problems because the authority of the Higher Parliament was regulated limitedly within the Constitution.

Akil also added that the amendment of the Constitution was the need of the country in the future. The Higher Parliament had to respond this.

On the other hand, the commission about to be formed had to be given a time limit to do their job, and it should consist of experts. After that, the result then submitted to the Higher Parliament, like once did to the Constitution Commission formed by the Parliament within the period of 1999-2004.

Last Monday, nine Constitution Justices lead by their Chief Justice Mahfud MD made a visit to the leaders of the City Council and the Higher Parliament.

Do not draw the President in

Lukman Hakim commented that the one authorized to form the commission was the Higher Parliament. The Parliament’s meeting at the end of their working period in September 2009 could be used for that.

”However, the President should be dragged into making unconstitutional move by asking to make the initiative of studying the Constitution. That is a political trap,” he said.

According to Lukman, President was not in the position of initiating the amendment of Constitution, or even initiating to evaluate it. The President’s duty is to uphold the Constitution, according to the content of his vow.

A researcher in The Habibie Center, Andrinof Chaniago, on Monday, separatedly, reminded that the government and the City Council might be enthusiastic related to the idea of commission establishment to study the amendment of the 1945 Constitution. But the commission has to be temporary or ad hoc and they were dismissed once the job was done.

”The commission later have to be comprised of experts and people with competence related to the constitutional, legal, policy, and Public Interest affairs. They also have to come from groups free from political interests,” said Andrinof. Members of the commission should not represent the government, the House, the Parliament or the City Council.

Related to the process of establishing the commission for studying the 1945 Constitution, Andrinof suggested that it is started in the government. President Yudhoyono submits names of commission members candidates to the Higher Parliament who will chose from among those names.

Separately, a politician Haryanto Taslam considered that the idea of establishing the commission to study the 1945 Constitution is more to a form of admitting the unsettled of constitutional change process starting from the beginning. Because of that, the government had better return to the initial 1945 Constitution. (sut/dwa)

Source: http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/09/02/00545910/pembentukan.komisi.harus.di.sidang.paripurna.mpr

Photo: Courtesy of Constitutional Court Public Relation Doc.

translated by: Yogi Djatnika

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