Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat and Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah speaking at a public lecture on “Internalizing Ideology within the Dynamics of Indonesia’s Democracy” at Borneo Tarakan University, Saturday (5/14/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Yuwandi.
Saturday, May 14, 2022 | 16:08 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat and Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah spoke at the public lecture on “Internalizing Ideology within the Dynamics of Indonesia’s Democracy” at Borneo Tarakan University (UBT). The collaborative event was organized by the Constitutional Court (MK) and the university’s Law Faculty (FH UBT) on Saturday, May 14, 2022.
Justice Arief Hidayat started his lecture by explaining the role of the founding fathers during the independence as the “Little Indonesia” group within the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Works for Independence (BPUPK) and the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPK) of various regions, ethnic groups, and religious in Indonesia.
“What they created was extraordinary. If they hadn’t prioritized the establishment of the [the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)], hadn’t united to produce a state ideology on which Indonesia was based, had only cared about their own ego and [ethnicity], the 1945 Constitution wouldn’t have been created, especially the preamble, which was full of love and extraordinary nationalism,” Justice Arief explained.
Founding Fathers’ Example
The 1945 Constitution, Justice Arief said, was not formulated through a majority vote. The founding fathers have set an example for the Indonesian nation, in terms of respect for each other, an extraordinary ‘give and take’ process, mutual respect and acceptance, in order to become one nation from Sabang to Merauke.
“So, those are the examples of tolerance, respect, and love for each other, acceptance of strengths and weaknesses as the nation’s generation, which was reflected in the BPUPK and PPK. There is a cosmological situation that we must discover there. Every time we discuss something crucial and it seems that there will be a deadlock, the chairperson of the session invites us to take a moment of silence, to ask God Almighty, Allah SWT, for instruction so that there will be no sharp conflict, which will eventually result in the results of the deliberation that are agreed upon by all parties without voting,” he explained.
Therefore, he said, Indonesia’s young generation should be able to follow in the footsteps of the founding fathers. However, he added, the challenges faced by the Indonesian people are not easy. Currently, the Indonesian people live in an era of technological disruption. Social media is often used to spread hoaxes, hate speech, and so on.
That’s why Justice Arief urged the public, especially the younger generation, to fill social media with positive content of the noble culture of Indonesia so that foreign ideological and cultural interventions can be resisted. Nevertheless, he added, there are still positive sides to technological advances, for example the use of the Zoom app for activities during the pandemic, allowing for activities to be held without having to meet in person.
Modern State
Meanwhile, Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah said that Indonesia had enormous potential in its strategic geographical location, abundant natural resources, and so on. On this occasion, he quoted Henk Addink’s on the modern state.
“For a country to be a modern state, it must have three pillars or conditions. First, it must uphold the principles of democracy. Second, it must uphold the principle of the rule of law. Third, its bureaucratic governance must be based on good government,” he said.
Guntur said Indonesia met the three conditions of a modern state, which was reflected in its concept as a state and in Pancasila. The first aspect of a modern state—democracy—Addink believe, firstly, must grant freedom to the people in the constitution, not just freedom as widely as possible, but also that which is accounted for. Thus, freedom in Indonesia is more impressive than that in western countries.
“Then, the rule of law must be based on the law-based state. This means that our actions and all aspects of our lives must be based on the rule of law. Addink said that there are four requirements for a rule of law: the principle of legality, separation of powers, protection of the citizens’ constitutional rights, and the role of the Constitutional Court in the rule of law,” Guntur said.
Next, Guntur explained the importance of good government. He said that bureaucratic governance in Indonesia has increasingly advanced, in line with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform’s plans regarding state governance and the strengthening of the state system. Other high state institutions, such as the president, the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly), the House of Representatives (DPR), the Audit Board (BPK), the Supreme Court (MA), the Constitutional Court (MK), and the Judicial Commission (KK) also carried out the task of strengthening the state system.
Writer : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 5/17/2022 14:12 WIB
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Saturday, May 14, 2022 | 16:08 WIB 213