MPR: The Allegation Of Amending The 1945 Constitution For The Extension Of The President's Term Is A Premature Discourse

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, Bambang Soesatyo, considers the accusation that the amendment to the 1945 Constitution to extend the presidential term to three terms is a premature discourse.

According to him, from a political point of view, this is difficult to happen because political parties are already preparing to face the 2024 election by carrying out their respective presidential candidates.

"In the MPR RI itself, from the Constitutional Review Commission, the MPR Review Board, to the MPR leadership level, there has never been a discussion about extending the presidential periodization to three terms," ​​said Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet) in a statement in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Monday. , September 14th.

This was said by Bamsoet in a webinar organized by the PP Muhammadiyah Institute of Wisdom and Public Policy (LHKP) online, Monday.

He emphasized that the MPR RI's plan to make limited amendments to the 1945 Constitution was only to present the State Policy Principles (PPHN), nothing else.

Bamsoet explained that in Indonesia, the rules regarding the limitation of the term of office of the president and vice president are strictly regulated in Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution which states that the president and vice president hold office for five years, and thereafter can be re-elected in the same office, only for one time. length of service.

"This means that the president and vice president can only serve twice in the same position, either consecutively or not consecutively. Both the term of office is held in full for a period of 5 years or less than 5 years," he said.

He explained that to change the constitution, a great political consolidation was needed because the requirements were very heavy, as stated in Article 37 paragraphs 1-3 of the 1945 Constitution.

According to him, Article 37 paragraph 1 explains that proposals for amendments to articles of the constitution can be scheduled in the MPR session if submitted at least 1/3 of the total members of the MPR (237 of the 711 total members of the MPR).

In paragraph 3, it is explained that in order to amend the articles of the constitution, the MPR session must be attended by at least 2/3 of the total members of the MPR (474 ​​out of 711 MPR members).

"While in paragraph 4 it is explained, the decision to amend articles of the Constitution is carried out with the approval of at least fifty percent plus one member from all members of the MPR, about 357 of the 711 members of the MPR. can't be done," he said.

He explained that when referring to global references, there are indeed some countries that allow the President to serve more than two terms.

Bamsoet gave an example of the history of the United States that noted, President Franklin Roosevelt served as President of the United States for 4 times in the presidential period from 1933 to 1945 during the crisis due to World War II.

However, after the amendment to the Constitution in 1951, the US President was then limited to two terms.

"Until now, there are still several countries that have adopted the implementation of the presidential term of office for more than 2 terms, including Brazil, Argentina, Iran, Congo, Kiribati, Cape Verde, and China," he said.

The Deputy Chairperson of the Golkar Party explained that in historical records, Indonesia had postponed elections and had also accelerated elections.

He said Vice President Mohammad Hatta's announcement on November 3, 1945, caused the election that should have been held in January 1946 to be postponed to 1955, due to unpreparedness and threats to defending independence.

"Meanwhile, the acceleration of the election was carried out through the Special Session of the MPR RI on November 10-13, 1998 which rejected President Habibie's accountability report, requiring the election to be accelerated from the previous schedule in 2002 to be held in 1999," he said.

According to him, the limitation of the term of office of the president and vice president in Indonesia is the result of reforms so that there is always a refresher in every period of government.

In addition, he considered that to ensure continuity, so that every government change does not change direction, the presence of PPHN is a necessity.

Present at the webinar was the Head of Legal Affairs of PP Muhammadiyah Busyro Muqoddas, Chairman of the Democratic Faction of the MPR RI Benny Harman, Chairman of LHKP PP Muhammadiyah Yono Reksoprodjo, Deputy Secretary of LHKP PP Muhammadiyah Titi Anggraini, Senior Researcher of LIPI Siti Zuhro, and Senior Researcher of the Center for Constitutional Studies and Iwan Satriawan, Muhammadiyah University Jakarta administration.