Correcting Misconceptions, MPR Affirms August 18 Constitution Day Is Not The Birthday Of Pancasila
Illustration of the Pancasila Sakti Monument at Lubang Buaya, Jakarta. (Antara-Arif F)

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Ahmad Basarah, emphasized that August 18, 1945 was not Pancasila's Birthday, but Constitutional Day. That's why August 18, 2022 is celebrated as Constitution Day.

Basarah said that the session of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) on August 18, 1945 only determined two things, namely Soekarno and Hatta as the 1st President and Vice President (Vice President) of the Republic of Indonesia, and the ratification of the 1945 Constitution.

"On August 18, 1945, the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) only ratified the 1945 Constitution, not the birth of Pancasila; thus, Presidential Decree No. 18 of 2008 regarding Constitutional Day which we commemorate today," said Basarah in a written statement, quoted from Antara. , Thursday 18 August.

However, said Basarah, so far there are still some people who are wrong about the time to commemorate the Birthday of Pancasila.

Furthermore, Basarah explained the preamble considering letter (a) in the Presidential Decree, which stated that on August 18, 1945 PPKI had stipulated the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia as the constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Meanwhile, he continued, Pancasila is a meta-juridical basic norm that has a position above legal norms, such as the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

"Thus, the place of Pancasila as the basis of the state is clearly not in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, but above the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Thus, Pancasila's Birthday is clearly not on August 18, 1945," he stressed.

He added that the juridical acknowledgment that Pancasila could not be equated with the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia was also stated in the Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Number 100/PUU-XI/2013 concerning the Review of Law Number 2 of 2011 concerning Political Parties against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

The essence of the Constitutional Court's decision in its legal considerations is to affirm the position of Pancasila as the basis of the state which cannot be equated with the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

Then, regarding the Birthday of Pancasila, he said, after a long time of not knowing the time of one of these historic events, the Indonesian people should be grateful and express their gratitude to President Joko Widodo who has carried out his historical task well.

"This historical task was when President Jokowi signed Presidential Decree No. 24 of 2016 which stipulates June 1 as the Birthday of Pancasila. Since then, the Indonesian people have been able to recognize and commemorate the Birthday of Pancasila as the basis and ideology of the state," he said.

While regarding the "weighing" section on letters (c), (d), and (e), the Presidential Decree confirms that Pancasila was born on June 1, 1945 through Bung Karno's speech at the Investigating Agency for Efforts to Prepare for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI) and has progressed. in the Jakarta Charter drafted on June 22, 1945 by the Committee of Nine.

"Then, it was agreed to be the final formulation by PPKI on August 18, 1945 and interpreted as a unified process of the birth of Pancasila, as the basis and ideology of the state by the Founders of the Nation," said Basarah.

Although it is different from the historical and juridical side, he conveyed that the commemoration of Constitution Day cannot be separated from the Birthday of Pancasila because the two momentums complement each other in one breath, as does the Proclamation of National Independence.


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