Chief Justice Anwar Usman delivering his speech at the graduation of the 2019/2020 class of the Muhammadiyah Institute of Law, Bima virtually, Saturday (7/11/2020) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The amendments to the 1945 Constitution in 1999-2002 gave way to the establishment of the Constitutional Court and was the perfect momentum to develop Indonesia into a constitutional rule of law, said Chief Justice Anwar Usman in his speech entitled “The Constitutional Court’s Role in Building Indonesia’s Civilization and State Administration as a Constitutional Rule of Law” at the graduation of the 2019/2020 class of the Muhammadiyah Institute of Law, Bima on Saturday, November 7, 2020 from Jakarta.

He said that the Constitution as the supreme law of the land must be upheld by all elements of the state in running the administration. Without it, the state governance cannot run. “Because the constitution is the rule of the game for state governance,” he added.

Justice Anwar added that the Constitutional Court through Decision No. 14/PUU-XI/2013 reformulated Articles 6A and 22E of the 1945 Constitution as it used the systematic and grammatical interpretation of the legislative and presidential elections according to the original intent of the legislature. Both elections are now to be held simultaneously after the legislative election used to be carried out before the presidential election. The change was meant to affirm the presidential system post-amendment of the 1945 Constitution. In addition, it was meant to reach efficiency in terms of time and budget.

He also said that the election and the development of democracy must be viewed positively, despite arising complex issues. These issues, with regard to not only the implementation of the voting but also the dispute afterward, should be overcome. However, he urged everyone to be grateful of the democracy in the country.

Justice Anwar stressed the need for all elements of society, including academia, to work together for the success of the election. “Lecturers and academia in the university are akin to the light among the people. Society’s attitude in response to the elections and various issues of the nation rely on [you], who educate the public. You have a noble duty. One with knowledge has more responsibility as they must practice it and share it to the public without exception and without expecting a return,” he said.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/14/2020 10:02 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.