By: Muhammad Zaki)*
President Jokowi will never amend the 1945 Constitution. He has emphasized this repeatedly and has no intention of doing so.
Recently, there has been an issue like a hot ball rolling wildly, when the 1945 Constitution is about to be amended. I do not know who blew this gossip, which is clearly very disturbing the peace of society. The President himself was also confused as to why he was being ‘accused’ of wanting to amend the 1945 Constitution.
President Jokowi continues to insist on rejecting the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, even though changes are allowed. He reasoned that he was not a party leader and had never wanted to change the contents of the 1945 Constitution, especially for personal gain. In a sense, the president is more concerned with the fate of the people than changing the articles in the Constitution.
President Jokowi added that no one can guarantee that the amendments will be carried out on a limited basis. I’m afraid that when the amendment is opened, it will spread everywhere. Therefore, he did not want to amend the 1945 Constitution even though it was only 1 article.
Amendments to the Constitution are indeed allowed to remain with severe conditions. Bayu Dwi Anggono, Director of the Center for the Study of Pancasila and the Constitution, stated that constitutional amendments were a natural thing. Provided that it does not conflict with the basic principles of the Pancasila state. This is something natural and how to see the amendment material.
Bayu added that constitutional amendments must be careful so that they do not fall into these 4 areas: first, they do not conflict with the strengthening of the presidential system, secondly, they do not change the form of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), while the third is not to change the sound of the preamble to the Constitution. 1945. Meanwhile, the requirement for the fourth amendment is that there is no need to add another explanation regarding the 1945 Constitution.
Amending the Constitution is a very sensitive issue because as head of state, President Jokowi is allowed to do so. But he chose not to do it because he did not feel this was an urgent matter. In a sense, during a pandemic it is better to focus on how to help the people not to starve, rather than ‘simply’ changing the contents of the 1945 Constitution.
The issue of amendments to the 1945 Constitution continues to grow, especially as the year 2024 draws near. That’s when the change of president so that there are people who breathe political gossip, and it’s as if President Jokowi wants to amend the 1945 Constitution, so that he can be re-elected in the next presidential election.
Whereas President Jokowi on another occasion has emphasized his rejection of the discourse of a 3-term office. He has no ambition to increase his leadership period to become RI-1. I don’t know who started this discourse and what happened instead was ‘fried’ everywhere, as if he was the one who proposed it, even though it wasn’t at all.
Indeed, when the New Order government fell, the 1945 Constitution was immediately amended and the sentence ‘the president may be re-elected’ was added to ‘the president may be re-elected for a maximum of 2 terms’. But at this time there was never any thought at all to revise that sentence to ‘maximum 3 periods’.
The public needs to remember that the 3rd term president is an issue from the opposition, who acts like Shakuni in wayang stories. Those who breathe the gossip but President Jokowi who feels the sap. Therefore, people are asked not to believe too much in rumors, let alone what they say and say.
President Jokowi firmly rejects the amendment to the 1945 Constitution because he does not feel there is an urgency to change it, even though as the number 1 official in Indonesia he is allowed to do so. In addition, the amendments will not change or increase the president’s term of office. So, people are expected to be calm and not be consumed by hoaxes and various issues.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusantara Reading Room
