The Indonesian Constitution of 1945: Why it was amended.

Pengarang

  • Totok Sarsito Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/jis2007.3.5

Kata kunci:

the Indonesian Constitution of 1945, Amendments

Abstrak

In 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 the Indonesian Constitution of 1945 was amended by "Maje/is Permusyawaratan Rakyat" (MPR) or the Peoples' Consultative Assembly, the bearer of the Peoples' sovereignty. The amendments were not without opposition. A number of ex-military generals, political elites, and scientists opposed the amendments. They demanded that the amendments be cancelled and that the Peoples' Consultative Assembly re-enact the Constitution of 1945 purely and consistently. Convinced by arguments that the Constitution had conceptual weaknesses, the majority of the Peoples' Consultative Assembly insisted on amending the Constitution in order to make it more democratic, modern, comprehensive, and responsive to new challenges. It was also meant to implement the values and ideals formulated by the Preamble and to prevent the power holders from abusing their power and to improve the system of "checks and balances" in the power system. Further the amendments were made necessary to return back the sovereignty to the people; to confine the power and authority of the Peoples' Consultative Assembly as well as the President, and enforce the power and authority of the Peoples' Representative Council; to promote autonomy in the local governments; to establish the Regional Representative Council, the Judicial Commission as well as the Constitution Court; to guarantee human rights; to improve the quality of education; etc. And, in order to show that the amendments would not deviate from the basic values formulated in the Preamble, the Peoples' Consultative Assembly decided not to touch at all the Preamble and to defend the form of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

 

Rujukan

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Feith, Herbert and Castle, Lance. Indonesian Political Thinking 1945-1965. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1970 Kahin, George McTurnan. Government and Politics of Southeast Asia. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1969. Kompas, 05 April 2002. ("Amandemen Justru Bermaksud Ekspresikan Pembukaan UUD”). Kompas, 09 April 2002. (”Minta Dihentikan, Amandemen UUD 1945”). Kompas, 06 July 2006. ("Peringatan Dekrit Presiden: Indonesia Harus Kembali ke

UUD 1945”). Nasution, Adnan Buyung. Kembali ke UUD 45, Antidemokrasi, in Kompas, 10 July 2006. Harian Kompas: Jakarta Persandingan Undang-Undang dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945. Jakarta: Sekretariat Jendral MPR RI, 2002. Tempo Interaktif, 01 November 2001. (“Amien Menilai Arah Amandemen UUD Sudah Benar”). Tempo Interaktif, 28 February 2002. (“KBM Minta Amandemen Keempat UUD 1945 Dihentikan”). Tempo Interaktif, 08 August 2002. ("FPP 45 Sampaikan Mosi tidak Percaya pad MPR”). Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945 dan Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 24 Tahun 2003 tentang Mahkamah Konstitusi. Jakarta: Sekretariat Jendral Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia, 2005. Undang-Undang Otonomi Daerah 2004. Bandung: Penerbit Citra Umbara, 2004.

Muat turun

Diterbitkan

2007-12-02

Terbitan

Jil. 3 (2007): Journal of International Studies (JIS) Vol. 3, 2007

Bahagian

Articles

Cara Memetik

Sarsito, T. (2007). The Indonesian Constitution of 1945: Why it was amended. Journal of International Studies, 3, 78-91. https://doi.org/10.32890/jis2007.3.5