Apriadi Gunawan and Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD says that injustice in Indonesia is rife – partly due to unprincipled implementation of the law.
"We created the state in search of justice. In fact, injustice is chronic," Mahfud said during the unveiling of the National Monument of Justice in Medan over the weekend.
Mahfud said that widespread injustice in Indonesia has left people vulnerable to harassment as the nation's laws have been imposed without conscience. "The law is prone to manipulation given the fact that its articles have a tendency to be twisted," he said.
Mahfud warned the crowd at the ceremony that the government's inability to impose justice might lead to anarchy.
"The state will be in danger of falling into chaos if justice cannot be upheld. It might trigger civil disobedience and disintegration," Mahfud said, appealing for the public's support in upholding justice.
"If next year injustice worsens we will gather again in this place to mobilize an anti-injustice movement," he said.
Mahfud was responding to local councilor Rahmat Shah's threat to dismantle the monument if the nation's injustice index failed yet to improve by 2012. Rahmat said continuing injustice inspired him to mobilize a movement to create the justice monument on Jl. S. Parman in Medan.
"Injustice and tyranny are gripping the country. The law is commercialized for personal interests. Officials are almost indistinguishable from crooks. That's extremely deplorable," he said.
Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker Irman Gusman hailed the monument as a visible reminder of the injustice still endured by the people. Irman said Indonesia was ranked the 32nd most just nation out of 35 countries rated by a recent survey.
Separately, a speaker at a recent seminar in Bandarlampung attributed the problem to a lack of national leadership as well as the amendment of the 1945 Constitution.
"It's very urgent now for the people of Indonesia to sit down together and reformulate a good state system that will conform to the ideals of the state ideology, Pancasila, and the 1945 Constitution," University of Indonesia rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri, a keynote speaker at the seminar, said.
Organized by the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) alumni association, the forum also featured noted Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University rector Komarudin Hidayat, presidential Advisory Council member Ryaas Rasyid, Gadjah Mada University public policy expert Sofian Effendi and former Lemhanas governor Muladi.
Sofian Effendi said that amending the Constitution had made the search for justice more complex.
Komarudin Hidayat highlighted the threat of disintegration, saying that Indonesia was in a dangerous situation due to increasing popular distrust, as reflected in the creation of bodies such as the Corruption Eradication Commission, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission and the Child Protection Commission.