Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat delivering a presentation at the dissemination of nationalism awareness at the Law Faculty of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang, Saturday (2/11/2023). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

---

KUPANG (MKRI) — Indonesia is more fortunate because it has the guidance of Pancasila as a way of life that unites its people consisting of various ethnic groups and religions. “I don't say that I created Pancasila. What I did was dig deep into our own traditions and I found five beautiful pearls,” said a part of a conversation by Bung Karno, as conveyed by Constitutional Judge Arief Hidayat at the beginning of his talk as a speaker at the National Insight Socialization. The event was held at the Faculty of Law, Nusa Cendana University, Kupang, on Saturday (11/2/2023) afternoon.

Arief also explained the history of human civilization. From a very simple civilization called hunting society, it moved to an agrarian society. Then came the industrial revolution with the invention of steam engines, electricity, and others. Many years later, it evolved into an information society with the discovery of computers and so on, leading to the current civilization known as the 5.0 era or super smart society that has experienced extraordinary development.

“Like what the Constitutional Court is doing now, which is developing digital technology. But will all aspects of life be replaced by digital technology? Everything must still be based on human beings,” said Arief.

The negative side of technology, Arief continued, is that many people act irresponsibly through the use of communication or other social media. There is an era called the post-truth era. Something that is not true but is repeated on social media will become the truth. According to Arief, hate speech and negative narratives aimed at dividing the nation are prevalent on social media.

Next, Arief explained the concept of VUCA, which is a military term from the 1990s. According to Arief, this concept represents society in the current 5.0 era. VUCA stands for V (Volatility), U (Uncertainty), C (Complexity), and A (Ambiguity). Volatility means rapid change. In a dynamic society that changes quickly and is difficult to predict, immeasurable, vision, goals, and good intentions are needed. Uncertainty in VUCA can be interpreted as uncertainty. There is a lot of uncertainty in the current era, so caution is needed. Meanwhile, Complexity in VUCA means complexity, a complicated situation. Ambiguity in VUCA has the meaning of a vague reality.

Pancasila as State Ideology

Meanwhile, Constitutional Judge Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh explained the position of Pancasila as the state ideology. Pancasila is a manifestation of the values that exist in society. These values have become the way of life of the Indonesian people in their daily lives. This value is the material cause of Pancasila, which was born from the original face and character of the Indonesian nation.

In this discussion, Daniel also explained the four authorities and one obligation of the Constitutional Court. Related to the authority of the Constitutional Court, it is stated in Article 24C paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. First, the Constitutional Court has the authority to review laws against the Constitution. Second, the Constitutional Court has the authority to decide disputes over state institutions' authority. Then, the Constitutional Court also has the authority to decide on the dissolution of political parties and to decide disputes over election results. The obligation of the Constitutional Court is to decide on the opinion of the House of Representatives regarding allegations of violations by the President and/or Vice President. In addition, there is an additional authority of the Constitutional Court, namely to decide disputes over regional head election.

Next, Daniel describes through the decisions of the Constitutional Court that relate to the concept of the rule of law and the ideology of Pancasila. As stated in Article 24C paragraphs (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution and the Constitutional Court Law, and in line with its function, the Constitutional Court also acts as the guardian of the state ideology. Therefore, from several Constitutional Court decisions including Decision Number 140/PUU-VII/2009 dated April 19, 2010, which review Law Number 1/PNPS/1965 concerning the Prevention of Blasphemy and/or Religious Insults against the 1945 Constitution; and Decision Number 82/PUU-XVI/2018 dated November 26, 2018, which tested Law Number 12 of 2011 concerning the Formation of Legislation against the 1945 Constitution, the Constitutional Court in its legal considerations clearly and explicitly states “... the existence of the Court is not only as the guardian of the constitution but also as the guardian of ideology, in accordance with the authority of the Court to test laws against the Constitution. If there is an application submitted to assess the constitutionality of a norm, the Court not only assesses the norm against the provisions of the Constitution but also considers the values of Pancasila...”.(*)

Author: Bayu Wicaksono
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator: Berlian Febrina Viaraputri/Rizky Kurnia Chaesario

Translation uploaded on 3/6/2023 12:06 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.

---