Designing a Constitutional Presidential Democracy in Indonesia

Saldi Isra,Fahmi Idris,Hilaire Tegnan

doi:10.5539/jpl.v13n2p22

Abstract

The constitutional design of the Indonesian democracy has undergone several significant changes from President Sukarno&rsquo;s regime known as Orde Lama or the Old Order (1945-1965) to Era Reformasi or Reformation Era (1998 to present). During the drafting of the 1945 Constitution, the desire to form a democratic system of government that is unique to Indonesia has led its founding fathers to adopt an ambivalent system of government resembling both a parliamentary and presidential systems of government. By investigating the Indonesian democracy and system of government through the analysis of relevant articles of the 1945 Constitution, the present study seeks to address the question how to design a constitutional presidential democracy in Indonesia. The research results show that with the election of president and vice president and their accountability to the People&rsquo;s Consultative Assembly or Majelis Perwalikan Rakyat (MPR), the design of the Indonesian system of government better fits a parliamentary more than a presidential. However, the four amendments to the 1945 Constitution (from 1999 to 2002) were intended to pave the way for a presidential democracy capable of accommodating the characteristics of a true presidential system of government in Indonesia.

Highlights

In a book entitled “Designing Democracy: What Constitution Does”, Cass R Sunstein observes that the main purpose of the constitution is to allow for an effective democratic order.1 The idea behind Sunstein’s claim is that the constitution is a basic frame that describes a nation's arrangement that enables democracy to work properly
This paper attempts to explain the constitutional design of the Indonesian presidential democracy firstly by discussing the different classifications of democracy, secondly by explaining the concept of a government system produced by the founders of the Republic of Indonesia and thirdly, by analyzing the idea of maintaining and purifying the presidential system after the amendments to 1945 Constitution
In line with Rachman, in a book entitled Pengeseran Fungsi Legislatif, we argue that the government system engineered by the founders is a presidential system with more loose characteristics

Summary

Introduction

In a book entitled “Designing Democracy: What Constitution Does”, Cass R Sunstein observes that the main purpose of the constitution is to allow for an effective democratic order. The idea behind Sunstein’s claim is that the constitution is a basic frame that describes a nation's arrangement that enables democracy to work properly. Some claim that the framers intended a presidential system while of others believe that they opted for a parliamentary system Many of these critics have not been able to clearly determine whether this imbalance of power is caused by the substance or the design of presidential democracy within the constitution or the use of excessive authority by the legislative. This paper attempts to explain the constitutional design of the Indonesian presidential democracy firstly by discussing the different classifications of democracy, secondly by explaining the concept of a government system produced by the founders of the Republic of Indonesia and thirdly, by analyzing the idea of maintaining and purifying the presidential system after the amendments to 1945 Constitution. The paper explains how much of an impact the four amendment to 1945 from 1999 to 2002 have had on the democratization of Indonesia

Understanding Constitutional Presidential Democracy

Nation Founding Ideas: A System of Its Own

Purification of the Presidential System

Checks and Balances between the Executive and the Legislative

Constitutional Reforms and the Democratization of Indonesia

Conclusion