Constitutional Court chief judge Arief Hidayat (center) leads a panel of judges during a hearing on the Mass Organization Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Tuesday (6/2). The hearing examined Law No. 16 of 2017 on the Determination of Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 2 of 2017 on an amendment of Law No. 17 of 2013 on mass organizations (article 80A).
It is very easy to identify the crisis of statesmanship in this republic. The latest event, which constitutes the tip of the crisis’s iceberg, is the ethics violation committed by Constitutional Court chairman Arief Hidayat, who has been given a verbal reprimand by the court\'s Ethics Council. He is deemed to have undermined the pillars upholding law and the Constitution. Many circles urged him to take off the skullcap of "the crown of glory" and quit his position.
About five years ago, Akil Mochtar, also a chairman of the Constitutional Court, was convicted of his involvement in bribery during the Gunung Mas regional election and sentenced to life imprisonment. Two other Constitutional Court justices have also been found wanting in their juridical duties: Patrialis Akbar was arrested in 2017 by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over the judicial review of Law No. 41/2014 on animal husbandry and animal health, and Arsyad Sanusi resigned in February 2011 for ethics violations (Kompas, 3/2/2011).
The aphorism that a justice is a "worldly representative of God" has been crushed. If the definition of a statesman is expanded and smoothed to cover state and government officials, especially regional heads, the number of statesmen who have been involved in ethics violations and extraordinary crimes (corruption) would increase substantially.
One of the main reasons for the limited availability of statesmen who remain honorable in the carriage of their duties is the fact that their selection undergoes a political process. The scheme is the fit and proper test conducted by the House of Representatives, the members of which are elected through the general and regional elections. The process is vulnerable to power politics, interest groups, money politics and other political transactions, whereas choosing statesmen should involve selecting those figures that possess integrity of character and adhere to virtuous values.
Identifying statesmen according to such a blueprint is very risky, let alone in the current excessive democracy, where freedom and equality have blinded the people toward choosing leaders who are skillful at making promises instead of others who actually do their jobs. Selecting statesmen by relying solely on the political process has caused Indonesia to be flooded by bogus statesmen who only meet the physical requirements. Raising statesmen depends not only on the political process, but also through education.
Setting out with this fact, Plato\'s brilliant idea on political education and educating statesmen can be used as a reference (Setyo Wibowo, 2017, Paideia: Philosophy of Platonic Political Education; Setyo Wibowo and Haryanto Cahyadi, 2014, Educating Leaders and Statesmen). This is a considered choice, and even though the idea appeared four centuries before Christ, its inspiration is valid in the context of Indonesia’s democratic practice, especially in the nuances of the post-reform democracy that resembles the downfall of the democratic city-state of Athens about 2,500 years ago.
Plato\'s argument is very basic. According to him, the quality of the nature of a state, which should serve public interests, is directly proportional with the ability, especially that of state administrators, in managing the natural desire attached to it. Therefore, the rise and fall of a state depends on the capability of state officials in managing the turmoil within their souls.
Supernaturally, the turmoil of the human soul consists of three dimensions. First, the impulse of the souls that serves for lust (appetitive). This turmoil revolves around the abdomen and downward: eating, drinking, the desire to have many offspring, becoming rich and others. Second, the movement of the soul that encourages the sense of pride, prestige, respect, dignity, self-esteem and others. This flame is very spiritual, so it is called thumos or “spirited”. Third, the rational desire or reasoning, namely doing something based on common sense.
Education starts with raising the awareness of the younger generation of their talent to do noble things. The instinctual requirement is very important, since true leaders and statesmen that have power are not driven by a lust for power, but the call to do good things and overcome injustice, depravity and destruction of life. They are "forced" to have power because they are tasked with maintaining and spreading the good of living together. This requirement is to prevent statesmen candidates from becoming leaders who are greedy, voracious and deceitful of the people.
However, education does not eliminate the complexity of finding statesmen. The primary difficulty is that although they are statesmen, when they are given power, it is almost certain that they will pursue the passion of greed. Therefore, the system of power must be built to offer mutual control.
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
J Kristiadi
Authentic and qualified statesmen, not bogus statesmen, are urgently needed to guide the country toward shared prosperity. The wave of political contestations, especially the regional elections, without the accompaniment of education to build the character of the younger generation, will only produce rulers, not statesmen who will care about the fate of the nation\'s children.
J KRISTIADI
Senior Researcher, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
