Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto with the Secretary of PP Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu’ti, Acting Head of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center Imam Margono, and Chairman of PP Pemuda Muhammadiyah Sunanto opening PPHKWN for Pemuda Muhammadiyah, Monday (6/6/2021) virtually. Photo by Humas MK/Teguh.

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Tuesday, June 7, 2022 | 07:41 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto officially opened the constitution awareness program for citizens (PPHKWN) for the board and members of Pemuda Muhammadiyah on Monday afternoon, June 6, 2022 at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua, Bogor.

“The selection of the phrase ‘constitution awareness program for the board and members of Pemuda Muhammadiyah’ was based on the idea that youth organization in general are already aware of the citizens’ rights guaranteed in the Constitution,” Justice Aswanto said in his opening speech.

He said that the organization had understood the rights guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution. “That is why we selected the phrase ‘improving awareness’ not ‘introducing.’ The improvement of awareness that we mean is hopefully dialogues between the speakers and the participants, so that we can improve what we have understood about our constitutional rights,” he explained.

Three Constitutions

Justice Aswanto added that in Indonesia, three constitutions had been in effect for four periods. The first was the 1945 Constitution, which had been in effect since August 18, 1945. Many things were not guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution at that time, including human rights. That is why it was later replaced by the 1949 Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia, (RIS) there were still many problems by then. Among them were the goals of the state and how to realize them, who were responsible for realizing them.

Furthermore, he said, the RIS Constitution was replaced with the Provisional Constitution of 1950. The founders debated about many things. Therefore, on July 5, 1959 a presidential decree was issued to replace the Provisional Constitution of 1950 and return to the 1945 Constitution.

“One of the most intense debates in the Provisional Constitution of 1950 was on human rights. Guarantee of human rights, especially women’s rights, was not optimized in the Provisional Constitution of 1950. As a result, President Soekarno decided to return to the 1945 Constitution,” Justice Aswanto said.

Several years on, the debate over the Indonesian Constitution was not over until the 1945 Constitution was amended from 1999-2002. During the amendment, a new state institution, the Constitutional Court, was proposed to be an executor of judicial power. This was regulated in Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court, which was amended by Law No. 8 of 2011, then by Law No. 7 of 2020.

“The Constitutional Court has a role and function as the guardian of the Constitution, the guardian of the Pancasila ideology, the guardian of democracy, the guardian of human rights, and even as the final interpreter of the Constitution. These functions were implemented in the Constitution and granted authorities to the Constitutional Court,” Justice Aswanto said.

Therefore, he added, the Constitutional Court has the main authority to examine laws against the Constitution, then to decide disputes between state institutions, to decide on the dissolution of political parties, to decide on disputes over the results of the presidential and legislative elections. It is also obliged to decide on the opinion of the House (DPR) if the president and/or vice president are suspected of having violated the law. In addition, the Court has additional authority to decide disputes over regional head election results until a special court is formed to handle them. 

Strategic Role of Muhammadiyah

Acting Head of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center Imam Margono said that efforts to realize democratic legal ideals required a good level of awareness of the Constitution from all citizens. Every citizen needs to understand the constitutional rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the concrete efforts that can be made to defend them.

“There is a philosophical and spiritual agreement to improve public access to the Constitutional Court, which guarantees the citizens’ constitutional rights, inspires and encourages the Court through the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center to carry out programs to improve the understanding of the citizens’ constitutional rights. These programs involve various elements in society,” he said.

Imam stated that Pemuda Muhammadiyah was targeted for this program because the Court believed in the strategic role of Muhammadiyah in the socio-political and legal aspects in Indonesia. Pemuda Muhammadiyah are expected to become agents of change of Pancasila who prioritize Indonesian characteristics and diversity. 

Equality before Law

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of PP Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu’ti thanked the Court for inviting Pemuda Muhammadiyah board and members to participate in the PPHKWN program.

“Our Constitution states that Indonesia is a law-based state. It implies that all matters relating to the administration of the state and the life of the nation and state are all based on law,” he said.

A rule of law, he said, is a country where the constitution is the basis and an important tool in ensuring that every citizen gets their rights as stated in the constitution. Every citizen is equal before the law and government. 

Writer       : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 6/9/2021 14:28 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.

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