Indonesia has moved towards bicameralism by establishing the Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, most commonly called the DPD in the Indonesian media.

The DPD was created by the Third Amendment to the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia enacted 9 November 2001. The DPD does not have the revising powers of an upper house like the United States Senate. Article 22D restricts the DPD to dealing with bills on 'regional autonomy, the relationship of central and local government, formation, expansion and merger of regions, management of natural resources and other economic resources, and Bills related to the financial balance between the centre and the regions.'

The DPD can propose such bills to the DPR and must be heard on any regional bill proposed by the DPR. Each province elects 4 members to the DPD on a non-partisan basis, although many candidates in the April 2004 election had links to the parties represented in the Peoples Representative Council, the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR.

A third legislative body, the Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (MPR) or Peoples Consultative Assembly, comprises the members of the DPR and the DPD.

External link

• [1] (http://www.us-asean.org/Indonesia/constitution.htm)