REMARKSOFTHERECTOR
ONTHEPUBLICLECTURE“SEPARATIONOFPOWERSINTHEUNITEDSTATES:
WHOHOLDSTHETRUMPCARD”BYPROF.JOHNVANDOREN
YOGYAKARTA,17APRIL2017
TheHonorable:
Ø Prof. John Van Doren, Professor of Law Emeritus at Florida State University
(FSU)LawSchool,
Ø Deans,facultymembers,andlecturersofUII
Ø Students,
Ø Distinguishedguests,participantsofthepubliclecture,ladies,andgentlemen.
Assalamu'alaikumWarrahmatullahiWabarakatuh,
Onthisspecialoccasion,letusofferourpraiseandgratitudetoAllahSWTforitis
withHismercyandblessingthatwecangatherinthisoccasiontoattendthePublic
Lecture,“SeparationofPowersintheUnitedStates:WhoHoldstheTrumpCard”by
Prof.JohnVanDoren.
Firstofall,onbehalfofouruniversity,Iamhonoredandpleasedtohaveyourvisit
today.Ialsowouldliketoextendmywarmwelcometoourspeakertoday,Prof.
JohnVanDoren,ProfessorofLawEmeritusatFloridaStateUniversity(FSU)Law
School.Onbehalfofouruniversity,Iamhonoredandverypleasedtohaveyourvisit
today. Welcome to the city of Yogyakarta and especially to our university,
UniversitasIslamIndonesia(UII).UIIistheoldestnationaluniversityinIndonesia
andoneoftheleadingIslamicuniversitiesinthecountrywhichestablishedbythis
nationprominentIslamicfigures.
Distinguishedguests,ladies,andgentlemen,
Foraslongasweknow,powerisoneofmostinterestingtopicswhichdiscussedby
intellectual throughout history. Who holds the power and how it could be
maintainedareexampleoffewquestionswhichdrawlongdiscussion.Butthemost
essentialquestionliesonhowthepowercouldbedistributedandseparatedamong
theactorsofpolitics?Thisquestionemergedbecausesinceancienttime,poweris
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usuallywieldedbyindividualorveryfewactorsofpolitic,suchasking,emperor,
monarchs,orsultan.Hereweknowconceptofabsolutepower.Historyhastested
that the power which concentrated on single individual or few elites is prone to
abuseandcorruptionfromtimetotime.AsapopularquotefromEnglishstatesman
said:powertendstocorrupt,absolutepowercorruptsabsolutely.
Therefore,theconceptofseparationofpowersisexisttoaddresstheissue.United
StatesofAmericaandIndonesiaisamongthecountrieswhoembracethisconcept
inthenationalconstitution.ForIndonesia,ourfoundingfathershasimplemented
theconceptinthestateconstitution,Undang-UndangDasar1945.
Today, the US long standing believes in this concept is again discussed during
PresidentDonaldTrump'sadministration.Surely,itwillbeapleasuretoustohear
wideinsightfromProf.JohnVanDorenonthisissue.Since,IndonesiaandUSAis
closepartnerinvariousfieldofpartnership,andtherefore,thedistributionofpower
intheUSmayplayanimportantroleinthepartnership.
Distinguishedguests,ladies,andgentlemen,
Thepubliclecturethatweholdtodayhasrelevancetoaddressvariousissueson
separation of powers in USA politics, especially during early years of Donald
Trump’sadministration.Throughthislecture,IdohopethatUII’sstudentcouldgain
importantknowledgefromthespeakerrelatedtothistopic.
Onceagain,IwouldliketoextendwarmwelcomeandthankyoutoProf.JohnVan
Doren.Idohopethatthiseventwillbecomeagoodentrypointtobetterunderstand
the politics of the United States as well as its implication toward the law and
internationalrelations.MayAllahgrantHisblessinginoureverystep.
Wasalamu'alaikumWarahmatullahiWabarakatuh,
Yogyakarta,17April2017
Rector,
NandangSutrisnoS.H.M.H.LLM.Ph.D
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