Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – The Indonesian House of Representatives on Monday revoked a much-criticized law made by former President Suharto, that has been a barrier for more than a decade to amending the country's 1945 Constitution.
All the four House of Representatives factions from the Indonesian Armed Forces, the ruling Golkar party, the Muslim-based United Development Party and the Christian-and-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party unanimously agreed to remove the 1985 law that required a referendum be held to determine whether amendments to the Constitution might be made.
"Regulating a referendum through the 1985 law was not in line with the spirit and the principles of 'representatives'," Hadi Sutrisno, member of a House committee dealing with home affairs and discussing the revocation, told parliamentarians during a plenary session attended by Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid.
"It also caused a legal bias to our Constitution," Hadi said.
An earlier two-day discussion seeking to annul the law took place last week after the People's Consultative Assembly, the highest constitutional body, assigned the House to do it in November.
The government of President B.J. Habibie has said the referendum law had caused "judicial redundancy," as Indonesia does not adhere to the principle of a direct democracy state.
The House of Representatives also said referendums were not recognized by the Constitution. Amendments, as stipulated in Article 37 of the Constitution, simply need the backing of two-thirds of the Assembly's members.
Suyanto, spokesman for the Indonesian Democratic Party faction, said the law on referendums was a piece of "constitutional engineering" to give the president the ability to abuse his power, as it is difficult to hold such referendums.
"The rights to amend the Constitution are actually fully in the hands of the People's Consultative Assembly as stipulated in the Constitution itself," Purwoto of the armed forces faction said, adding that therefore, no other laws are needed.
"The making of such laws should be avoided in the future as it will harm the process of political education," he said.
The 1985 law was seen as part and parcel of the widely criticized "five political laws," which include the laws on elections, on political parties other than the Golkar party, on Golkar and mass organizations, and on the structure and position of the House and the Assembly.
In late January, the other four laws were revoked and altered by three new political laws regulating elections, political parties and the composition of the House and the Assembly, as well as the provincial and regency councils.
One of the most disputed articles in the Constitution is that on the presidential term of office. Under it, a president can be reelected after his or her term of office ends, but it does not limit how many times he or she can be reelected.
The article made it possible for Suharto to be reelected six times. Scholars and political observers have said such a loophole allows for abuse of power such as Suharto engaged in during his 32-year rule.
Talk of amendment, or debate on the state ideology "Pancasila," were taboo under Suharto's government and anybody doing so faced the risk of being labeled subversive.
In March 1980, Suharto told military officers, "Rather than use arms to face down changes to the 1945 Constitution and the Pancasila, we had better kidnap one of the two-thirds of Assembly members who intend to make the change."