ABSTRACT
The First Amendment was passed on 19 October 1999 following the first true democratic election in Indonesia, held in June that year. The Indonesian executive was thus at once both head of state and of government. The balance of the Second Amendment was concerned with issues not addressed by the First Amendment. The fall of Soeharto was, however, accompanied by revelations as to the full extent of the military complicity in state terrorism and private gangsterism, including terrorist bombings, inciting ethnic violence and the murder and torture of civilians. The decentralisation Laws were also criticised by the regions they empowered on the grounds of insecurity: they were seen as gifts from the centre that could be revoked at any time. A further major reform with the potential to reduce the power of both the presidency and the legislature was the establishment of a regional 'senate'.
