Making democracy work for Indonesians
It also rejected proposals to change the constitution to introduce syariah or Islamic law, proposals that had little support from the start.
Amien Rais, speaker of the assembly (MPR), called the passage of the amendments a ''giant stride'', despite what the English-language daily Jakarta Post called an MPR session that showed ''legislators wasting people's money for narrow political interests''.
In more than ways than one, the amendments do represent a major stride for the 220 million people in Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world.
''Nobody said the road to democracy would be short and painless,'' the Post said Monday. ''When this nation opted for reform rather than revolution, we chose the longer but more certain road to democracy and prosperity.''
Rectifying political flaws
The major amendments direct presidential elections, the phasing out of the military's role and changing the make-up of the MPR, and actually address some the most serious political flaws of the Suharto regime.
In his three-decade rule, Suharto relied on his and his Golkar party's domination of the political machinery to ensure that he had the veneer of being 'chosen' by the MPR, a body that includes government appointees and some relatives of his.
Under this system, it is the political factions in the MPR that select the president and vice- president, as they did President Megawati Sukarnoputri one year ago.
Under the direct vote system to be used in the next election in 2004, Indonesia would hold a two-round poll. Those who get the most votes in the first round would take part in a run-off vote.
"It is a step forward to return the sovereignty to the people," said Moeflich Hasbullah, a researcher at the Institute for Religious and Institutional Studies (IRIS).
Exit the military
The MPR also adopted constitutional changes to force the military and police out of the legislature — a major revision because their role in politics had long been defined by the constitution and had been a key pillar of power for Suharto.
Rais said the change means that the armed forces and police would no longer be involved in ''day-to-day'' politics, a comment confirmed by military legislators.
''The armed forces and the police are the tools of the state's defence and security and will not involve in politics. We don't ask for any kind of House representation. With all sincerity in awareness, we decide to leave the MPR," Slamet Supriyadi, chairman of the armed forces' faction, said on Sunday morning, drawing loud applause.
The role of military in the MPR is already in the process of being phased out, but under the last MPR decree it still had until 2009 to retain membership there.
But some analysts say the absence of the military and police representatives in MPR does not necessarily mean the end of the military's role in Indonesian politics.
"Legislation is important. But the military's political role will be mainly determined by the action of both military members and civilians," said Kusnanto Anggoro, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "The question is whether or not civil politicians are able to put the military under their control.''
So far, it is civilian politicians who have often invited the military into politics, he added.
Ensuring civilian supremacy
In short, Edy Prasetyo, another CSIS researcher, says that the mentality of civilian politicians may in fact be hampering the democratisation process.
Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Institute of Science says a lot remains to be done in ensuring civilian supremacy and a professional military.
"The current military chief is under the president, which suggest that he is in equal position with other ministers. It means they still pay a part in the public decision making,'' he pointed out. "He should be under the defence minister, who is a civilian.''
The MPR also changed its own composition by abolishing the seats of the non-elected representatives, which have included not only armed forces but in the Suharto years, his relatives.
At present, the 700-member MPR is made up of 500 members of the House, which includes 38 non-elected members of the military and the police and 200 appointed representatives.
In place of the old set-up, Indonesia would create a bicameral system made up of the House and a Regional Representatives Council.
Root of problems
Analysts say, however, that there was little public participation in the amendments. Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia told Indonesia's Antara news agency that the MPR's decisions still leaves unresolved issues.
''Some problems still reflect authoritarian concepts in the amended 1945 constitution,'' he said.
Still, those decisions were not always easy to make, with political manoueuvring by factions taking place as angry protesters outside demanded that their representatives decide on the constitutional amendments.
In hindsight too, the last set of constitutional changes — others were made in 1999 — probably took place at the right time, some years after the end of the Suharto years and long enough to take a sober look at some of the country's political ills.
A number of these ills stem from the constitution, whose provisions and weaknesses could be exploited by authoritarian leaders.
''It is no coincidence that two successive dictators (Sukarno and Suharto) ruled this nation for the first 50 years of its independence, until 1998,'' the Post added.
After the 1999 amendments, these latest revisions go further but also have checks and balances in the creation of a constitutional commission that will review them.
''With the MPR having completed the constitutional amendment process, we are probably only halfway there. There is still a long way to go,'' concluded the Post. — IPS
