From 2004, Indonesia will have a vastly modified political system. The changes were approved at the recent annual session of the supreme People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR. They bring Indonesia much closer to the norms of other democracies and light years away from the controlled system of former president Suharto.
Key among the changes is a total revamp of the look of the MPR, the supreme institution of state. In the past it consisted of the smaller House of Representatives, or DPR, plus appointed representatives from the regions and the so-called 'functional groups', who only took their seats during the occasional MPR sessions.
In future, it will be more like a joint session of the houses of Congress in the United States.
The DPR has been redesigned to remove unelected legislators. But it has also been supplemented with a new second chamber, the Regional Representatives Council or DPD, which will have a hand in drafting legislation and will effectively function as a type of Senate. The hope is that this will give the regions a stronger voice at national level and reduce the centralistic tendencies of the past.
The MPR remains the top institution of state, as stipulated by Indonesia's founding fathers when they declared independence in 1945, but it has been redefined as a combination of the DPR and DPD. It will still appoint the president, but only after the president has been elected by the people.
This was the other major change clarified by the 'fourth amendment' to the constitution, which the MPR passed on August 11. In 2004, for the first time, Indonesia will have a direct presidential election, in two rounds like the French presidential election.
This will be a fundamental change to the nature of Indonesian politics and will hopefully make the powerful institution of the presidency more accountable to the voters. In return, the president elected in 2004 will in theory have a stronger popular mandate than any previously.