28 Years of Reformasi: Former Constitutional Court Chief Urges Rereading of the Revolutionary Path

The Overseas Branch (DPLN) of PDI Perjuangan in Belgium held a EuroIndo 2026 Geopolitics Webinar on Saturday, 27 June 2026. The event, organised to commemorate the Birth of Pancasila and Bung Karno Month, featured an in-depth discussion on the direction of Indonesian democracy amidst global challenges. The webinar presented three main speakers: Prof. Arief Hidayat, a Constitutional Law expert and former Chief Justice of the Indonesian Constitutional Court; Anggoro Budi Nugroho, an Indonesian economist based in France; and Ludovicus Mardiyono, Chair of the PDI Perjuangan DPLN in Belgium. In his presentation, Prof. Arief Hidayat invited participants to critically reflect on the 28-year journey of Reformasi. He stressed that democracy is not the ultimate goal, but rather an instrument to achieve the ideals of independence as enshrined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution. According to Arief, the quality of democracy should not be measured solely by the routine of general elections. ‘A healthy democracy must be capable of producing public policies that deliver social justice, equitable welfare, and the protection of citizens’ rights,’ he asserted. Prof. Arief called on the Indonesian nation to ‘reread the revolutionary path’. For him, the revolution did not end with the 1945 Proclamation or the 1998 Reformasi, but is an ongoing process to realise a just and dignified society. He cautioned against reducing democracy to a mere arena for electoral power struggles. Democracy must remain grounded in the values of Pancasila and the constitutional corridor so as not to lose its orientation in bringing glory to the nation. The EuroIndo 2026 Geopolitics Webinar served as a cross-disciplinary dialogue space, bringing together legal, economic, and political perspectives. The discussion concluded that the strength of Indonesian democracy depends heavily on the state’s ability to work for the greatest prosperity of the people, in accordance with the constitutional mandate.