Constitution of Indonesia

The 1945 constitution of the worlds largest Muslim majority state, substantially reformed after 1998.

Overview

Drafted in the rush toward independence proclaimed in August 1945, the Indonesian Constitution is short and once concentrated power heavily in the presidency. After Suhartos fall in 1998, four amendment rounds from 1999 to 2002 transformed it, adding a comprehensive bill of rights, direct presidential elections with two term limits, a Constitutional Court founded in 2003, and regional autonomy. The state ideology Pancasila, belief in one God among five principles, frames religious pluralism without an Islamic state, a compromise defended at independence and preserved since. It anchors the unity of the vast archipelagic republic.