Sri Wahyuni and Kurniawan Hari, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri locked horns on Wednesday with legislators over the need to establish an independent constitutional commission.

Closing a three-day seminar on the Constitution organized by Kagama, Gadjah Mada University's alumni association, Megawati said an institution comprising members with expertise, wisdom and experience was needed to paint the big picture as regards the constitutional amendment process. But legislators rejected the proposal to set up a commission to take over the process of amending the 1945 Constitution from the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

They questioned the urgency for such a commission citing the MPR's "proven competence" in updating the national charter.

"I don't think we need a constitutional commission. But, if the fourth amendment ends up deadlocked, the establishment of such a commission could become a possibility," said the chairman of the assembly's ad hoc constitutional amendment committee, Jacob Tobing, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The assembly is slated to discuss the fourth raft of amendments to the Constitution during its annual session in August. The first series of amendments was made in October 1999, the second in August 2000 and the third in November 2001.

Megawati said the big picture should include studies on which parts of the Constitution needed amendment, the direction and goals of the amendments, the consequences of the amendments, and the formulation of the amendments themselves, Megawati said.

In short, she said, there should be an inventory of what information should be disseminated to the people for their approval.

"It was within this frame of understanding that I came out with the idea of a constitutional commission," Megawati said. "Whether it means that we need a referendum or whatever you like to call it [to establish an independent constitutional commission], we must comply with the principle of respecting the people's rights," she added.

Megawati fought back her tears when mentioning the role of the founding fathers in the formulation of the 1945 Constitution.

Another legislator, Yusuf Muhammad (National Awakening Party – PKB), said the idea of setting up such a commission had come too late as all party leaders supported the amendments made by the Assembly. Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang dismissed the proposal as an outdated idea.

Three factions, the Megawati-led Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Golkar, and the National Awakening Party had floated the idea of establishing a commission during the assembly's 2000 Annual Session.

But what was proposed by the factions was diametrically opposed to what had been proposed by scholars and activists who had joined together in an coalition of NGOs to press for an independent commission.

The three factions insisted that the commission should be incorporated into the assembly's existing ad hoc commission, while the NGO coalition demanded that the new commission have full power to draft amendments.

According to the coalition proposal, the Assembly would have to accept and approve the draft amendments. If the Assembly rejected them, there would then be a national referendum so as to give the public the last say.

Over the past months, the coalition has tirelessly campaigned for the establishment of an independent constitutional commission.

Some 300 students from Gadjah Mada University and activists from the KAMMI Muslim students' association held a rally during the closing ceremony carrying banners and posters condemning Megawati as the killer of reform.

"Megawati's presence on the campus is nothing but an affront to Yogyakarta students, who have been vocal and firm in demanding reform," read a statement signed by the KAMMI Yogyakarta chairman Imron Rosyadi.

The students said they were protesting the fact that Megawati, whom they perceived to be an anti-reform figure, was the one who received the results of the seminar.

The workshop came out with two options. First, to synchronize and to systematize the previous three amendments and to consider them as part of the Constitution during a transitional period.

Former Gadjah Mada University rector Ichlasul Amal seemed to offer a middle way when he emphasized that the "synchronization and the systematization" process did not necessarily mean the annulling of the previous amendments.

Second, to amend Article 37 of the 1945 Constitution and set up an independent constitutional commission to draft a constitution within a year based upon public participation.

Article 37 stipulates that at least two-thirds of the People's Consultative Assembly members should be present and that at least two-thirds of the members should express their agreement before the Constitution may be amended.

"We hope the August Annual Session will adopt the options we have offered. That way they will avoid a possible deadlock," Ichlasul said.