Chief Justice of the Indonesian Republic Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia –MKRI) Arief Hidayat took time to visit the Indonesian Embassy in Vienna on Monday (23/3) after a visit to the Constitutional Court of Austria. His visit was welcomed by the Indonesian Republic Ambassador for Austria Rachmad Hidayat, a number of Ambassador officers and staffs, and Indonesian people representatives who were in Vienna.

On the occasion, Arief said that recently there were many commotions during appointment of strategic position in Indonesia. “Even on Presidential Election, there were commotion occurred,” said him

The commotion occurred because legal culture had not formed yet in Indonesian society. He said, founding fathers of Indonesia once said it didn’t matter if the 1945 Constitution (Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 –UUD 1945) applied temporary, because the most important was the spirit of nation building. 

Moreover, belief factor was also affected the commotion occurred in Indonesia. Comparing between the post-Independence with recent condition, Arief added, the differences will be visible in aspects of trust between communities. In fact, mutual trust is a key of peace in the nation.

“There was different inner-condition between the post-Independence with recent condition. Society nowadays is living in low-trust society. We need to remember that in the process of drafting the constitution, Javanese people dominated up to 70%. But there was no suggestion about Javanese language as national language,” explained Arief.

Arief was also highlighted disorientation problems in the society. According to him, recently people were only look for his advantages and his group benefits when granted strategic position. “Our orientation as government officials is supposed to be dedicated to nation and society, not for something else,” added him.

Arief exemplified the suspect naming of an Indonesian Police Chief (Kepala Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia –Kapolri) candidate by the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi –KPK) that should be done with great sorrow because an official arrested. However in fact, the KPK were proud of it because they could arrest an official.

Therefore, Arief urged all parties to restore themselves in the same orientation, which was dedicated to nation and state. He assessed nationhood living would not be easy without the same vision & mission and also mutual trust. “When the commotion is still continuing as it is today, then we would step back. Democracy is not a purpose, it instead a means to achieve nation prosperity,” said him firmly. (Yogi Djatnika/Lulu Hanifah/Prasetyo Adi N.)