Speech Of The Annual Session, Bamsoet Wants The MPR RI To Return To Be The Highest State Institution

Chairman of the MPR RI Bambang Soesatyo. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the MPR RI Bambang Soesatyo assessed the need for rearranging of state institutions. One of them is to return the MPR RI as the highest state institution. "After 25 years we have entered a new era, the era of Reform since 1998, now is the time for us to reflect on the arrangement of our state institutions," said Bamsoet during an annual trial speech at the Nusantara Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, August 16. Bamsoet said reforms had given birth to amendments to the Constitution which had been considered taboo for a long time to be changed. Changes to the 1945 Constitution, he said, had reorganized the existing positions, functions and authorities of state institutions, as well as created new state institutions. "The rearrangement also occurred at the People's Consultative Assembly. The assembly, which was originally the highest institution in the country, changed its position to a high state institution. The Assembly is no longer the only institution that carries out people's sovereignty as regulated by the 1945 Constitution," he said. Bamsoet then mentioned the order of Article 22E of the 1945 Constitution, which explicitly stipulates that elections are held once every five years. Both the selection of members of the DPR, DPD, DPRD, President and Vice President. The term of office of all cabinet members will also follow the term of office of the President and Vice President which has been determined by the basic law, which is only for five years. "The problem is, what if before the General Election something that is beyond our common expectations occurs, such as a devastating large-scale natural disaster, a war, rebellion, or a pandemic that cannot be overcome immediately, or a state of emergency that causes the implementation of the General Election cannot be held properly, on time, according to the constitutional order? So legally, of course, no President or Vice President will be elected as the product of the election," he explained. "In such circumstances, the question arises, who has a legal obligation to overcome these dangerous circumstances? Which institution has the authority to postpone the implementation of the general election? What are the constitutional arrangements if the general election is delayed, while the term of office of the President, Vice President, members of the MPR, DPR, DPD, and DPRD, and cabinet members have expired?," he added. These problems, according to Bamsoet, have not yet had a constitutional solution after the amendment to the 1945 Constitution. This, he said, must be a concern because before the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was still able to establish various regulatory provisions, to complete the vacuum of the regulation in the constitution. "Does it still have the authority after the amendment to the basic MPR law to give birth to regulatory provisions? This is important for us to think about and discuss together, in order to maintain our safety and integrity as a nation and state," he said.

"Ideally, the MPR RI was returned to be the highest state institution as stated by the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mrs. Megawati Soekarnoputri on the 58th Anniversary of Lemhannas on May 23, 2023," concluded Bamsoet.