Former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Calls Indonesia Needs to Do Two Things

JAKARTA – Former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia and Constitutional Law Expert, Jimly As-Shiddiqie, considers that reconstruction efforts to restore the quality of democracy are the most important agenda that Indonesia must work on immediately. Reconstruction is needed in two ways, namely institutionalization (institutionalization) of politics and political consolidation. Because what is currently happening in Indonesia, he said, is the process of dismantling political institutions (de-institutionalization) from their basic functions.

“What is happening now is reversed. Where are the private affairs, and where are the official (public) affairs mixed up. It is difficult for us to determine whether this is a statement in an official capacity or a personal statement. Every day everyone is talking, using freedom. Sometimes it’s none of his business to talk about either. Then someone else quoted it, so it was chaotic in the public sphere,” said Jimly.

In the Pre-Muktamar Muhammadiyah-‘Aisyiyah Seminar at Muhammadiyah University Jakarta, Wednesday (16/3), he said the process of de-institutionalization of politics was getting bigger due to the ineffectiveness of the system which strictly regulates space for politicians with business backgrounds. Because of this, it is difficult to avoid conflicts of interest among officials.

“Now in our government more than 50 percent of our political officials are businessmen. “This is a reality,” he said.

Jimly then said that the efforts to thwart the de-institutionalization effort include proposing a number of laws (UU) such as the Law on the Prohibition of Conflicts of Interest, reform of the Limited Liability Company Law, Broadcasting Law, Election Law, and Law which regulates that the maximum limit of political dynasties within a party can only be two generations apart. It is also considered important to strengthen political consolidation and institutionalization to erode the feudal culture and subconscious which is still an intrinsic feature of political parties in Indonesia.

Jimly said that this feudal cultural heritage first appeared during the debate on the Indonesian state administration system at the BPUPK session at 3 am on July 1, 1945. The sharp debate resulted in the meeting which usually always used the deliberative system and finally used the voting system to determine whether Indonesia used a kingdom system or a republic system. .

“Now after 76 years of independence. Is it over? Not yet. Look at the parties that were born after the reformation, which quickly became empires. Everything,” said Jimmy.

“So the political dynasty is rampant everywhere. When he collaborates with economic oligarchs, because democracy is increasingly showing symptoms, it is becoming more and more expensive, costs money, the owner of capital has a bigger role in determining political processes. So the economy, dynasty, politics are all mixed up now,” criticized Jimly.

In addition to preventing de-institutionalization, strengthening institutionalization and political consolidation, Jimly said, is useful for Indonesia to strengthen state governance that is based on the system and not on a feudal pattern, namely relying on a leader figure.

“The bigger and more modern an organization is, the higher its dependency on the system. The smaller and more traditional an organization, the stronger its dependence on figure factors. Now, Indonesia as a large modern state organization that is the third largest democratic force in the world needs to strengthen the leadership system, not figures,” he concluded. (afn)