Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman with Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah and several officials in a coordination meeting for the Pancasila and Constitution speech contest for lurah/village heads all across Central Java Province on Tuesday (10/3) at Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

SURAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) with Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta (UNS) and the Central Java Government held a coordination meeting for the Pancasila and Constitution speech contest for lurah/village heads all across Central Java Province. The meeting, which took place at UNS on Tuesday (10/3/2020), was attended by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah, with Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan as well as UNS Rector Jamal Wiwoho along with Law Faculty Dean I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani, Head of Disperinasdes Sugeng Riyanto and other officials.

During the meeting, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah said that such a competition had been held by President Joko Widodo while serving as mayor of Solo. At present, the Constitutional Court along with UNS and the Central Java Provincial Government will hold a Pancasila and Constitution speech contest in Central Java Province. 

"In the past, when the President was the mayor of Solo, he had also said that the Constitutional Debate was only for [village heads] in Solo. Now, we will organize the same thing, but for all [village heads] throughout Central Java," Guntur said. 

UNS Rector Jamal Wiwoho appreciated the event and stated that UNS will host the contest. "We gladly welcome the Pancasila and Constitution speech contest among lurah/village heads in Central Java Province [as part of cooperation] between the Constitutional Court and the Central Java Provincial Government. I hope this event will become an icon and be emulated by other campuses throughout Indonesia," Jamal said. 

Meanwhile, Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan explained the contest’s stages starting from the initial selection to the grand final. "The speech contest is one way to conduct socialization related to the Constitution and Pancasila to Indonesian citizens. As we know, this event will be attended by 8,559 lurah/village heads throughout Central Java. In the initial stage, the lurah or village heads will register online and submit their speech. After that, the team from UNS will select the speeches [through] seven panels in which each panel will select 1,221 speeches," Heru explained. 

After the selection, 70 best participants from each panel will be selected and sent to the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center in Cisarua, Bogor, to take part in a national seminar related to "The Settlement of Regional Head Disputes in the Constitutional Court." After being reassessed by jury members from the Constitutional Court, UNS, and the Central Java Provincial Government, 5 winners will be selected to enter the semifinal. 

"The semifinal will be held at the Sebelas Maret University on March 11, and the judging panel consists of 3 people from the Constitutional Court, UNS, and the Central Java Provincial Government. Likewise, the grand final will take place at the peak of the event, […] in the UNS Surakarta auditorium but with a different theme from the previous round. Then 3 winners and 2 consolation prize winners will be chosen," Heru said. (Panji Erawan/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

Translation uploaded on 3/12/2020