At the launch of the Journalists and Academics Forum / Jurnalis dan Akademisi (JUARA) at Diponegoro University on Friday (26/7), the Rector of Diponegoro University, Prof. Dr. Suharnomo, S.E., M.Si., expressed his commitment to making UNDIP a center for dialogue and knowledge that advances democracy in Indonesia and supporting the Democracy School of the Institute for Research, Education, and Economic and Social Information (LP3ES).
“To enhance the effectiveness of publications in addressing societal issues, UNDIP is involved in organizing the Democracy School and ISPE, resulting in the creation of the JUARA forum,” he stated.
The former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) and part-time lecturer at UNDIP, Prof. Dr. Moh. Mahfud MD., S.H., S.U., who was one of the speakers on the second day of the Democracy School on Saturday (27/6), remarked that Indonesia is a large, rich, blessed, and progressively advancing country. However, political events often hindered or disrupted it. The continuous development of unproductive democracy has led to ongoing dynamics in constitutional law.
“Bung Hatta had already written about the necessity of choosing democracy if we were to become independent while also warning us to be cautious because democracy has its flaws, even though we choose it as the best of all existing systems. When democracy entered the arena of the Indonesian independence movement in 1931, many referred to it as Western democracy, saying it should not be applied in Indonesia. The desired democracy used original democracy, which Hatta explained as democracy centered on the sovereignty of the people, existing before the emergence of feudalism in Indonesia,” he explained.
“Democracy, if not guarded with moral discipline and adherence to rules, will become a tool to destroy democracy. The sovereignty of the people can indeed destroy the sovereignty of the people, as Hatta warned,” he continued.
“The problem today is that the spirit of original democracy, as mentioned by Bung Hatta—namely cooperation for collective prosperity—and the spirit of the law, which encompasses morality and ethics, seem to have somewhat drifted away from our national and state life,” Mahfud concluded. (LW-Public Relations)
