amendments that took place during 1999 – 2002 , focusing particularly on the new
structure of Indonesian government, human rights and freedoms, direct elections
and multiparty systems. I will also examine three new institutions: the House of
Regional Representatives, the Judicial Commission and the Constitutional Court.
Major developments in political laws will be examined as well.
In sectionii, I will briefly discuss the intersection of religion and Constitution.
As the largest Muslim country in the world, this issue is very important in
Indonesia. Finally, I will offer my observations of whether the developments
discussed in this chapter will bring Indonesia to uphold constitutionalism, democ-
racy and the rule of law.
i. constitutional amendments
Despite the weaknesses in the 1945 constitution as the basis for democracy, it was
explicitly, or implicitly, accepted by most major political forces as the framework
for the transition in Indonesia, beginning in 1998. As a result, during the 1999 – 2002
constitutional amendments, thirty-one articles ( 83. 79 per cent) were amended or
modified and only six articles ( 16. 21 per cent) were unchanged.
Checks and balances
The amendments to the 1945 constitution have clarified the presidential nature of
the system and continued the process of establishing greater separation of powers
and checks and balances between the three branches of government. The amend-
ments provide citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and
citizens exercise this right in practice through periodic free and fair elections, held
on the basis of universal suffrage. Prior to the amendments, the president of
Indonesia served for a five-year term and could be re-elected without limitation.
Thus, Indonesia had President Soekarno, who governed from 1945 to 1966 , and
President Soeharto, who led the country for thirty-two years ( 1966 – 98 ). This past
was not a healthy democracy, and in fact both leaders were considered to be
dictators. Therefore, the first constitutional target in enacting the First Amendment
was to limit the term of office to two five-year terms for both the president and
the vice-president. The Indonesian political parties are of the view that if the leader
stays in power for life or for too long, power corrupts him, which could lead to the
collapse of the government, as in the cases of Presidents Soekarno and Soeharto,
and people become jealous of the leader, because they want to share power.
7
Articles 4 – 5 and 10 – 15 of the amendments grant the president authority to act
as both head of state and head of government, as in a pure presidential system.
(^7) Jimly Asshiddiqie, ‘Telaah Akademis atas Perubahan UUD 1945 ’( 2001 ) 1 ( 4 )Jurnal Demok-
rasi & HAM 17.