Despite the President’s opposition, several political parties in his coalition are continuing to press the issue.

On Wednesday, MPR leaders continued their road show to “absorb” public opinion on the proposed amendment. They visited the headquarters of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), where the ulemas expressed their support for a limited constitutional amendment.

The MUI said MPR leaders should first thoroughly assess whether an amendment was necessary.

“If the MPR goes ahead with the constitutional amendment, however, the MUI will understand as long as the amendment focuses only on reinstating the State Policy Guidelines [GBHN],” MUI leader Basri Bermanda said.

MPR leaders have insisted that the constitutional amendment will only reinstate the now-defunct GBHN, a legacy of former president Soeharto’s New Order regime.

The reinstatement of the GBHN could wrest some independence away from the executive, as the MPR would have the power to decide whether the president’s policies were in line with the policy guidelines.

However, certain parties are pushing for a wider-ranging amendment.

The country’s largest Muslim mass organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), suggested last week that the amendment should include the abolition of direct elections. The organization cited the high cost of direct elections and the potential for political polarization.

The NasDem party, a member of Jokowi’s coalition, raised the idea of increasing the presidential term limit from two to three five-year terms, while the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) suggested allowing only one seven-year presidential term.

Jokowi has signaled his disapproval of the constitutional amendment in any form. In August, he said he considered the GBHN unnecessary and that his presidency was a product of direct elections. On Monday, he objected more explicitly to the idea of a constitutional amendment.

“It would be better if there were no amendment. Let us concentrate on external pressures that are difficult to handle,” Jokowi told the press at the State Palace in Central Jakarta. He emphasized again that he was “the product of a direct election”.

“There are some who say a president should stay in office for three terms,” he said. “This has three [possible meanings] for me. One, they want to slap my face; two, they are sycophants; or three, they just want to ensnare me.”

Political parties outside the government coalition, which have been against the amendment, have praised the President for his comments.

"Bravo to Pak Jokowi for speaking out forcefully and firmly because this is a very fundamental issue," Prosperous Justice Party lawmaker Mardani Ali Sera said. "It is becoming wild. At first it was about GBHN; then it was about [the president] being chosen by the MPR; then it was about three terms. I appreciate Pak Jokowi's statement."

Democratic Party lawmaker Didi Irawadi said Jokowi's stance against the amendment was "correct".

"In the opinion of the Democrats, the president should be limited to two terms of five years as required by law," he said on Tuesday. "If the GBHN leads to the president being chosen by the MPR, then that is also incorrect because it takes away rights that the people have had since 2004."

Those in the ruling coalition have been more equivocal in their responses to Jokowi’s comments. Andreas Hugo Pareira of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party that has spearheaded the amendment, said that Jokowi had criticized only the increase in the term limit. He said the MPR should focus on the GBHN.

"Jokowi has repeatedly emphasized that the amendment should just concern the long-term development plans," Andreas said on Tuesday. "The addition of new topics to the amendment will only lead to a counterproductive discussion, so the MPR should focus on the recommendations of the 2014-2019 MPR."

House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani of the PDI-P said the idea to extend the presidential term limit from two to three terms was backward. “I think we must be consistent and focus on [reinstating] the GBHN,” she said on Wednesday.

When asked about Jokowi's comments, MPR Deputy Speaker and National Awakening Party lawmaker Jazilul Fawaid said there was a "constitutional mechanism" for proposing an amendment.

"We are absorbing the aspirations of the public and taking the recommendations of the previous MPR into consideration with regard to a limited amendment concerning the GBHN," he said.

Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto said the country should focus instead on the economy.

"In the current economic situation, with the instability of the global economy, the only part of the world where there is political stability is ASEAN, and the country with the greatest political stability in ASEAN is Indonesia," he said. "Because of that, an amendment in the near future might not be needed. [The Golkar Party] will evaluate it deeply."

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