Former Head of BPIP Yudi Latief delivering a presentation at the constitution awareness program (PPHKWN) for workers organization virtually, Wednesday (7/27/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Wijaya.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 | 20:21 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—A constitution awareness program (PPHKWN) for workers organizations was held once again by the Constitutional Court (MK) through its Pancasila and Constitution Education Center (Pusdik) organized virtually on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Former Head of BPIP (Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education) Yudi Latief talked about “The Re-actualization of Pancasila Values;” former constitutional justice of 2015–2020 I Dewa Gede Palguna talked about “Constitution and Constitutionalism;” Islamic University of Indonesia law lecturer Ni’matul Huda talked about “The State Administration Based on the 1945 Constitution;” and Andalas University constitutional law lecturer Khairul Fahmi talked about “The Guarantee of the Citizens’ Constitutional Rights Based on the 1945 Constitution.”
In the first session of this second day, Yudi Latief said in his presentation that every citizen’s right to be happy is formal but there is absolutely no guarantee that every citizen can be happy. “This means that the state has no role in making its citizens happy, so happiness is really a personal matter,” he said.
He explained that the five precepts within Pancasila reflect Indonesia in various ways. The first precept reflects religious diversity, the second ethnic diversity, the third and fourth political and party diversity, the five the different layers of social hierarchy and civilization.
“So, the five precepts of Pancasila reflect the diversity of Indonesia in various aspects. Indonesia is so diverse in terms of its natural resources, flora and fauna, human resources, and even geography,” he said.
Yudi also said every citizen has the right to knowledge and to improve their quality of life in addition to the right to job and a decent living for humanity. “Intelligence must be developed. Although humans have their own innate nature, where some are intelligent, intelligence must have room to develop,” he said.
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Constitution and Constitutionalism
Meanwhile, I Dewa Gede Palguna, a former constitutional justice for two terms, said that constitutionalism is recognized as a prerequisite for democracy in a democratic country and a law-based state, and is accepted as a modern necessity.
He added that constitutionalism is based on consensus on three things: common goals, foundation of government, and state administrators.
He believed, in general, constitutionalism is understood as a political philosophy based on the notion that government authority comes from the people and must be limited by a constitution that clearly states what the government can and cannot do.
He further explained that the essence of constitutionalism is the limitation of state or government power, which is from the people, and clearly designates the constitution as the controller of that power or authority.
He also explained the constitution in a formal and material sense. In a formal sense, the constitution is a solemn document that is special in nature, a set of legal norms whose change must meet special requirements. These requirements make it not easily changed. Meanwhile, in a material sense, it is in the form of rules governing the formation of general legal norms, especially laws.
Thus, he added, the constitution is a requirement that cannot be eliminated in realizing the essence of constitutionalism, i.e., an effective system of limiting state power. “In other words, without a constitution there is no effective system of limiting state power, so that means without a constitution there is no constitutionalism,” he stressed.
The PPHKWN serves to improve understanding of Pancasila values and the Constitution, the citizens’ constitutional rights, and the constitutional avenues in fighting for constitutional rights. The participants followed presentations on Pancasila, the Constitution, the citizens’ constitutional rights, the Constitutional Court, and the procedural law for judicial review from constitutional justices, constitutional law experts, as well as Constitutional Court’s substitute registrars, researchers, and IT staff.
Writer : Utami Argawati
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 7/30/2022 10:48 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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