Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat giving a public lecture on “The Citizens’ Constitutional Right to Education” for the Al Washliyah Nusantara Muslim University (UMN) of Medan, North Sumatera, Friday (7/15/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Dhini.

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Friday, July 15, 2022 | 15:42 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat gave a public lecture on “The Citizens’ Constitutional Right to Education” onsite at the Al Washliyah Nusantara Muslim University (UMN) of Medan, North Sumatera on Friday, July 15, 2022. He said the heterogenous people of Indonesia comply with one same legal basis, the 1945 Constitution. As the supreme law, the Constitution is the legal guidelines to all Indonesians.

“Indonesia is very difficult to manage because its population is heterogeneous. There are [citizens] who are following the modern era or the 5.0 era, with advanced information technology. And today there are still those [who live] like in the past century. However, everything is regulated by the same law or Constitution,” said the law professor of Diponegoro University.

He talked about the election of governors, regents, and mayors as regulated in Article 18 of the 1945 Constitution, which reads, “Governors, Regents, and Mayors are respectively the heads of provincial, regency, and cities governments and are democratically elected.” At the beginning of the Reform, he added, governors, regents, and mayors were elected by the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD).

“When we practiced the election of governors, regents, and mayors by the DPRD, issues occurred. There was [vote buying] among DPRD members. If [candidates] paid 50% plus 1, they could become regents. At the same time, election by the DPRD was also practiced abroad but there were no problems and [it was] democratic. However, in Indonesia there was issues,” he said.

In the end, Justice Arief added, that the political elite changed the rules for regional elections, so as to be carried out by the people democratically. However, problems still occur. Many violations, he said, ended up in the Constitutional Court.

Right to Education

Justice Arief also said the constitutional right to education is regulated in Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution. “(The provision) is very good, perfect, but there are still challenges and obstacles in its implementation,” he said.

He said the higher the equality of Indonesians, the higher the budget for education. One of the students asked about the constitutional rights of citizens to receive education.

“I am confused about the citizens’ constitutional rights? Who are the citizens? Are they the poor, middle-class, or the rich? Sometimes my fellow students are confused about their constitutional rights. What are the legal bases and what articles are there?” Muhammad Khairul Imam asked.

Answering the question, Justice Arief said the Constitution have two provisions on the population: population means both foreign nationals and Indonesian citizens.

“[The rights for both] are regulated, for example, freedom of religion and belief for Indonesian citizens. However, constitutional rights only belong to citizens, meaning all Indonesian citizens, those who live in Sabang to Merauke who have Indonesian ID cards and are descendants of Indonesians,” he explained.

Next, UMN student Dinda Puspa Utami asked about the guarantee of education for citizens in the Constitution. Justice Arief said that everyone is required to get basic education following the Constitution.

“The problem of intention to go to school or of the lack of facilities are not a problem of the phrasing but of implementation. Implementation depends on various situations and that’s why not everyone can get the same facilities. However, what is meant by ‘citizen’ is an Indonesian citizen, whoever it is,” Justice Arief said.

Arief emphasized that this is guaranteed by the state protect the citizens’ human rights through mapping. “Everyone‘s right to education is guaranteed by the state, but there are some criteria,” he said.

Memorandum of Understanding

On the same day, the Court signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UMN Al Washliyah on improving constitutional awareness and the quality of legal higher education. Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah signed the MoU on behalf of the Constitutional Court in person, while the university was represented by Rector KRT Hardi Mulyono K. Surbakti.

“Today, we have an extraordinary opportunity with the signing of the MoU between the Constitutional Court and UMN Al Washliyah. […] The MOU signed earlier will bring progress for UMN Al Washliyah in the future. We hope that it will help the UMN to improve our knowledge, experience, and more,” Hardi said after the signing.

Meanwhile, Guntur said that the MoU signifies the Court’s relations to UMN Al Washliyah as a friend of the Court. “Not only a strategic partner, but also an intellectual one to the Constitutional Court,” he said.

Guntur also revealed that the Court also strives to serve the people through collaboration with universities throughout Indonesia. “The Constitutional Court is present in large, medium, and small universities to universities in border areas. That way, the Court can confirm its identity as the guardian of the Constitution,” he said.

Writer        : Utami Argawati/LA
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 7/25/2022 13:51 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.

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