leaders and to express grievances and desires in free and fair elections. The Arab
Spring developments have raised interest in whether Indonesia’s emergence as the
third-largest democracy can show how to reform movements elsewhere in the
Muslim world.^2 Indonesia remains the only country in Southeast Asia to be rated
‘free’ in Freedom House’s annual survey of political rights and civil liberties. In the
wider context of the Muslim world, certainly, this rare experience is a significant
way to show that the compatibility of Islam and constitutionalism leads to ‘checks
and balances’ mechanisms that are vital to democracy. This annual survey confirms
the statement of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: ‘As I travel around the world
over the next years, I will be saying to people: if you want to know whether Islam,
democracy, modernity and women’s rights can co-exist, go to Indonesia.’^3
While democracy opens the opportunity for the establishment of Islamic polit-
ical parties, in the last three elections ( 1999 , 2004 and 2009 ) Islamic political parties
have failed to win the majority of seats. It is worth noting that not a single Islamic
political party proposed the idea of thekhilafa(caliphate) as the form of Indonesian
government. They did not even propose that Indonesia become an Islamic state,
despite the fact that more than 80 per cent of the Indonesian population is Muslim.
General elections and constitutional reform in Indonesia rejected the call for the
inclusion of sharia in Article 29 of the Constitution.
4
According to the 1998 – 2002
amendments, Indonesia remains a republic, with a presidential system and
three branches of government.
5
Indonesian experience demonstrates that Islamic
political parties assign religious meanings to national institutions and tend to more
readily endorse the state’s policies and practices, and interestingly ‘secular’ political
parties adopt Islamic issues in their political strategy. For instance, sharia-inspired
by-laws have been adopted in some districts by ‘secular’ parties in order to bolster
their political machines.^6
This chapter will provide a review of major constitutional developments in
Indonesia since 1998. In sectioni, I will evaluate the outcome of constitutional
(^2) Peter Alford, ‘Indonesia “a Model for Arab Uprisings”’,The Australian, 27 August 2011.
(^3) ‘Indonesia Shows Islam, Modernity Coexist: Clinton’,Reuters(London, 18 February 2009 ),
available atwww.reuters.com/article/politicsNews.
(^4) More information can be found in Jimly Asshiddiqie,The Constitutional Law of Indonesia
(Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 2009 ); and Harun Alrasid,Naskah UUD 1945 Sesudah
Tiga Kali Diubah oleh MPR(Jakarta: UI Press, 2002 ). Tim Lindsey, ‘Indonesian consti-
tutional reform: mud towards democracy’ ( 2002 ) 6 Singapore Journal of International &
Comparative Law 244 ; Todung Mulya Lubis, ‘Constitutional reforms’, in Hadi Susatro
et al.,Governance in Indonesia: Challenges Facing the Megawati Presidency(Singapore:
ISEAS, 2003 ); and Slamet Effendy Yusuf and Umar Basalim,Reformasi Konstitusi Indo-
nesia: perubahan pertama UUD 1945 (Jakarta: Pustaka Indonesia Satu, 2000 ).
(^5) See, for example, Nadirsyah Hosen,Shari’a and Constitutional Reform in Indonesia
(Singapore: ISEAS, 2007 ).
(^6) Michael Buehler, ‘The rise of Shari’a by-laws in Indonesian districts: an indication for
changing patterns of power accumulation and political corruption’ ( 2008 ) 16 ( 2 )South
East Asia Research 255.