MoU signing by Constitutional Court Secretary General and UKSW Rector witnessed by Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman spoke at the National Seminar discussing "Implementing Simultaneous Legislative and Presidential Elections with Integrity" on Friday night (10/19). In the event that took place at Satya Wacana Christian University (UKSW), Justice Anwar, accompanied by the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court M. Guntur Hamzah, spoke about the law and the constitution.

Justice Anwar explained that law and constitution are the pillars of the state. He said that the collapse of a country was shown by the destruction of the country\'s law and constitution. "The advance or retreat of a nation is not due to the economy. Many developed economies were destroyed, like Russia or the Soviet Union. Law and constitution are the pillars of the survival of a country, especially if the law and constitution are mocked," he explained before the UKSW academic community.

Anwar emphasized that Indonesia is neither a religious nor secular state, but a state of Pancasila. However, he continued, Pancasila does not conflict with the religious values in Indonesia. "Not one of the precepts in Pancasila is contrary to the religious values that exist in Indonesia," he said.

In addition, he mentioned that every country in the world adheres to a democratic system of government, even though the country adheres to communism. He said that Argentina chooses its president every four years. Although limited to only two terms, a president can be re-elected after passing one more term. "This is different from [Indonesia]," he added.

Anwar added that democracy is developing in various countries anomalously. Democracy, which was originally expected to meet the needs of the people, has turned on its goal. "Democracy is driven by the elite, a handful of people who have large capital or those who are close to capital owners. This is understandable because to move the wheels of democracy a large capital is needed," he explained.

Therefore, to evaluate democracy, amendments were made to the 1945 Constitution during the reform period. The elections at that time, he continued, were a consequence of the understanding of democracy and nomocracy and the constitutional paradigm. "After the amendments, this paradigm is what turned our country into a legal state based on democracy or a democratic rule of law. This was done in the amendments to the 1945 Constitution by holding on to nomocracy, in addition to democracy. "This change of paradigm was to correct past Indonesian democratic system," he explained.

In the event, the Constitutional Court also collaborated with UKSW through the signing of a memorandum of understanding. In addition, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was also held as part of the event. (Lulu Anjarsari/Yuniar Widiastuti)