Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra at a national seminar on “The Dynamics of Government System Practice after the Amendment of the 1945 Constitution,” Friday (3/17/2023). Photo by MKRI/M. Nur.

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(MKRI) — Indonesia as a territorial unity had not used the presidential system in the past, said Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra at a national seminar on “The Dynamics of Government System Practice after the Amendment of the 1945 Constitution” on Friday, March 17, 2023 at the State University of Padang (UNP) in Padang, West Sumatera Barat Province. The event also marked the inauguration of a smartboard mini courtroom.

Speaking at the seminar in person, he said that Indonesia has a long history of monarchies, such as Sriwijaya Kingdom, Majapahit Kingdom, etc. However, when the drafters of the 1945 Constitution did not choose a monarchy with a king as head of state and a prime minister.

“We chose something that was first practiced by the United States of America,” he said.

He further added that after reading the transcripts of the drafting of the 1945 Constitution by Moh. Yamin, who was the State Secretary at that time, and compiled by A. B. Kusuma, the founding of the state was full of debates. Some proposed the idea of a monarchy.

“However, the unanswered question at the time was who to choose as a monarch. At the time, kings still existed. Who to choose? It was not easy to determine. Soekarno and Yamin said it was not appropriate that we be led by a generational leader,” Justice Saldi said.

He believes that in the end, the presidential system was chosen since the drafters of the Constitution did not want to emulate Japan and the Netherlands.

“So, the drafters of the 1945 Constitution had a spirit of not choosing a model like that of Japan and the Netherlands. After they agreed to use a new model, it was then formulated in a norm. In the 1945 Constitution put into effect in August 18, 1945, the model by the founders was a combination between the parliamentary and the presidential systems,” he explained.

Indonesia left the presidential system, where Soekarno was head of state and government, in November 1945. Then it switched to the parliamentary system. Only in 1999 did it affirm the return to the presidential system.

Justice Saldi explained that there were groups that wanted to propose the parliamentary system citing that it was more democratic than was the presidential system. “The practice of the parliamentary system in 1945 to 1949, what is the traumatic experience? At the time, the prime ministers or the cabinet was changed after two months, six months, one year and a half. Not one stayed for over 5 years. The trauma then impacted the amenders of the 1945 Constitution,” he explained.

Therefore, the presidential system was implemented with adjustments. First, the executive (president) and the legislative (House of Representatives/DPR) must be both elected by the people. Second, the president cannot be impeached by the parliament except when they commit a violation as mentioned in the Constitution.

“So, Article 7A, Article 7B of the amended the Constitution determines the reasons to impeach the president before their term ends, for corruption, not meeting requirements, etc. Before this article existed, Soekarno was impeached without a clear parameter,” he said.

Justice Saldi said the third thing is that there is no one highest state institution. Before the amendment, the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) was the highest state institution, but now all state institutions are equal. “If we read the Constitution after the amendment, we believe that our 1945 Constitution is the closest to the pure presidential system,” he added.

Handover of Smartboard

In his remarks, Acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan said that the Court’s collaboration with higher education institutions, especially the State University of Padang (UNP), is inevitable, since the Court has always been boosted by academics.

“How the Court was established and until today we are proud that five of the constitutional justices were academics. The universities are one of the Court’s strategic functions for providing protection to the citizens’ constitutional rights, which has been regulated clearly in the Constitution and are in line with Pancasila values. Therefore, [Justice Saldi’s] attendance is how the Court connects with universities to organize a seminar on the dynamics of regional administration system after the Constitution,” he said.

With the Court’s authority to provide protection to the citizens’ constitutional rights, Heru added, the Court that is located in only in the capital city, must guarantee easy access. The Court can be accessed by all citizens from Sabang to Merauke.

“Therefore, we present this smartboard mini courtroom. It is very appropriate for classroom. The Court gives internet access. [The Court provides] one smartboard and a year of internet package,” Heru said.

He added that the Court collaborated with 60 other universities that manage video conference facilities.

“Collaboration through seminars can be done with the other 60 campuses. There will be rights and obligations for the management. The most important is then the Court holds remote hearings, citizens can follow them or request them from UNP and the Court will support UNP when litigants attend hearings at UNP,” Heru said.

Meanwhile, UNP Rector Ganefri expressed appreciation for the device, which is in line with its newly-developed Law Faculty. “The establishment of the law study program is thanks to the support by Professor Saldi Isra. Without his support, I would not have opened the program. This is the Court’s grant to the only campus without a law faculty. On behalf of UNP, I express appreciation. Today, we organize this national seminar. We have prepared a new room for the smartboard,” he said.

Author       : Utami Argawati 
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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