Today’s Legal Enlightenment (Sunday, 02 October 2022)

Bagir Manan:

The political democracy we enjoy today has expanded the opportunities for abuse of power. The phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely” also applies in democracy. Not only absolute power abuses power, but it can also happen in a democracy. One of the meanings of democracy is to make people responsible for organizing and managing and governing themselves. It should be very odd that in a democracy, there are various forms of manipulation and abuse of authority. However, that is today’s reality. Events or cases, such as bribery in the House of Representatives, the nickname “mafia” for House of Representative members, and politics in filling political positions. All these things occur in a democracy.

Source: Varia Peradilan No. 317, April 2012

Best regards,

Fredrik J. Pinakunary