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Gerindra rejects amendment to the 1945 Constitution

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Jakarta, IO – The Chairman of Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) Party faction of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Sugiono has confirmed that his faction concurred with other factions in rejecting any amendment to the 1945 Constitution, as reported from Jakarta, Tuesday (3/22/2022). 

Sugiono stated that the Gerindra faction took the decision after considering the increasingly sensitive issue of a proposed postponement of the 2024 election. He pointed out that Gerindra has never formally discussed the amendment of the 1945 Constitution in the MPR. However, the MPR Review Board has assessed the Principles of State Guidelines (PPHN) to be included in the 1945 Constitution. “From the beginning, it was agreed that should there be any amendment; it would only concern PPHN. However, there has been no discussion about the specifics of when the amendment might be implemented,” he said. 

Previously, Deputy Speaker of the MPR of PDIP (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) faction Ahmad Basarah stressed that his party had decided to withdraw from any movement to amend the PPHN in the 2019-2024 MPR period. PDIP did not want the amendment momentum to be taken advantage of for any personal or group interests that could threaten the dignity of the Constitution. 

A similar sentiment was shared by the chairman of the NasDem (National Democrat) faction, Taufik Basari. He stated his faction supported the PDIP faction’s decision to shelve the proposed amendment. He believed that PDIP, as one of the parties supporting the PPHN amendment, made the right decision in postponing the amendment proposal. 

Taufik opines that such a delay could prevent the PPHN amendment proposal from getting off track and include the discourse of extending the presidential term of office into three terms – or even extending it by postponing the election. He said the NasDem faction had given a warning from early on that the PPHN amendment could be a Pandora’s box to push the issue of an extension of the presidential term of office. 

Arsul Sani, Deputy Chairman of PPP (United Development Party) Central Executive Board and concurrently the Deputy Speaker of MPR, stated that his party suggests postponing the amendment to the Constitution for the time being. If the PPHN amendment is rammed through, other issues irrelevant to the PPHN can emerge, such as a discourse on postponing the election. This could potentially dilate the scope of the amendment unnecessarily. (des)

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