Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah closing the PPHKWN program for Pemuda Muhammadiyah board and members virtually, Thursday (6/9/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Teguh.

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Friday, June 10, 2022 | 08:38 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Almost all constitutions accommodate the constitutional rights of citizens, not their obligations because there is only one obligation, that is, to be good citizens, said Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah at the closing of the constitution awareness program for citizens (PPHKWN) for the board and members of Pemuda Muhammadiyah on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua, Bogor.

He said the event was good cooperation between the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center and the board and members of Pemuda Muhammadiyah, which is a friend of the Court.

“This program hopefully will bring benefits, positive things, especially to the participants. The results have also then become materials for the participants anywhere to be disseminated to the public,” he said.

Also read: Deputy Chief Justice Opens PPHKWN for Pemuda Muhammadiyah 

Good Citizens

The event served to improve public understanding of constitutional rights. A question often came up during the program, “Why are the constitutional obligation of citizens not discussed, only the constitutional rights are?”

Guntur explained that the citizens only have one obligation, that, is to be good citizens. “Obligations are an integral part of being a citizen. However, what are often demanded are the rights of citizens. Therefore, almost all constitutions accommodate the constitutional rights of citizens, not their obligations because there is only one obligation, that is, to be a good citizen,” he stressed.

Also read: Pemuda Muhammadiyah Receive Instruction on Pancasila and Constitution  

Constitutional Court’s Commitment

The Acting Head of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center Imam Margono said the Constitutional Court had a vision to improve awareness of the Constitution among the public and state administrators. “The commitment of the Constitutional Court is proven by the large number of alumni of this program from all over Indonesia. Currently, there are 32,793 alumni of the PPHKWN and the technical assistance on procedural law recorded in our information system,” he explained.

Therefore, he hoped the opportunity to learn at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center could be utilized in order to improve the participants’ constitutional awareness. “The more people understand the citizens’ constitutional rights, the better it is for the development of our national constitutionalism and law,” he stressed.

Also read: Pemuda Muhammadiyah Learn Constitutional Court’s History and Draft Petition 

Improving Awareness

Pemuda Muhammadiyah General Chairman Sunanto in his remarks expressed gratitude to the Constitutional Court for the opportunity and cooperation with his organization, so that its board and members could participate in the program at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center in Cisarua, Bogor.

“Pemuda Muhammadiyah will continue to strive to improve constitutional awareness among its members. We also believe our country is based on law and the attitudes [of the people] must be based on law,” Sunanto said.

He hoped the PPHKWN program would not stop and only take place virtually, but continue in the future and be organized onsite so that the participants, committee members, and speakers would be able to convene in person at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center in Cisarua, Bogor.

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

Translation uploaded on 6/13/2021 08:29 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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