Megawati Red Ink

Megawati's red ink reminded the Constitutional Court judges of their constitutional mandate as guardians of the constitution.

SALOMO TOBING

Sukidi

The message in the opinion article titled "The Nationalism of Judges at the Constitutional Court" (Kompas, 8/4/2024) was conveyed by an Indonesian citizen named Megawati Soekarnoputri. According to the original text, the message, which is guided by Pancasila, the constitution, and four other truths, was handwritten in red ink.

Megawati's red ink fuels the spirit of courage to speak out for justice and truth amidst the domination of an evil alliance (unholy alliance) between populist tyrant rulers and political, business and intellectual figures who hide and distort the truth for the sake of power.

Megawati's red ink emphasizes the urgency that calls her to continue fighting in a civilized manner, as a friend of justice, to uphold the constitution and democracy.

As a citizen who strongly adheres to the ideology of Pancasila and the constitution, Megawati hopes that the esteemed constitutional judges will embody the spirit of courage and nationalistic attitude to safeguard the constitution and democracy from worsening damages.

Also read: Statesmanship of Constitutional Court Judges

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto (right) together with PDI-P DPP Chairman Djarot Saiful Hidayat at the Constitutional Court, Jakarta, handing over the amicus curiae proposed by PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, Tuesday (16/ 4/2024).

Megawati's red ink reminds the constitutional mandate that as guardians of the constitution, the judges of the Constitutional Court (MK) have the noble task of, according to Megawati's hopes, "unraveling all the roots of the presidential election problems which stem from nepotism and alleged abuse of power by the President.”

MK Decision Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023 is a practice of nepotism involving the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (at that time), the President and his son. The Constitutional Court's decision, borrowing Professor Mark Tushnet's thesis at Harvard Law School, proves the practice of playing a rough constitutional game—constitutional hardball (2004)—to legalize nepotism in the presidential and vice presidential election contestation.

However, the practice of nepotism itself violates MPR Decree No. XI of 1998, Law No. 28 of 1999, and MPR Decree VIII of 2001, which demand a clean and corruption-free state administration, free from corruption, collusion, and nepotism.

Megawati's red ink knocks on the door of awareness of reason and conscience that as guardians of democracy, constitutional judges are obliged to save democracy from damage. Like damage to the constitution, damage to democracy also stems from "abuse of the President's power".

Also read: ”Amicus Curiae”, MK Considered or Ignored?

BPMI-SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

President Joko Widodo had a warm conversation with the Chairman of the PDI-P, Megawati Soekarnoputri, before his inauguration as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday (7/6/2022).

From the start, Megawati warned the President to recognize the "dark side of the palace" because the President's power, due to desires and desires that exceed the bounds of reasonableness, often results in forgetting the rules that must be obeyed -melik ngdong lali, according to Javanese noble hymn.

Political advice does not only come from Megawati, but also from political scientists. Along with his best students, Saiful Mujani, R William Liddle has warned that "the President disregards democracy" (Journal of Democracy, 2021). Three years later, "the President is very eager to maintain his power by sacrificing democracy," writes Saiful Mujani in "Explaining the Worsening Regression of Indonesian Democracy" (2024).

The 2024 election will be the culmination of the damage to democracy stemming from the scandal of "nepotism and alleged abuse of power by the President." The enormous power of the President, without the existence of a strong checks and balances mechanism from the legislative and judicial institutions over the years, has been a source of damage to the constitution and democracy.

It is time for all of us to be called upon to save the constitution and democracy from destruction, and even extinction. However, above all, those expected to be the saviors in these present days are the Honorable Constitutional Judges.

Also read: Judges Deciding Election Disputes

KOMPAS

Eight constitutional judges are hearing cases regarding disputes over the results of the 2024 presidential election

Show to all the people of Indonesia, Your Excellency, the spirit of courage and statesmanship in making fair and just decisions, not for the sake of power, but for the benefit of all the Indonesian people as the true owners of the people's sovereignty.

"By placing the sovereignty of the people," as conveyed by Megawati in the opinion of a friend of the court presented by Hasto Kristiyanto to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (16/4/2024), "the judges of the Constitutional Court also serve true justice."

May the dawn of true justice be born from constitutional judges who hold firmly to the clarity of reason and the purity of conscience.