Anwar Usman and Arief Hidayat Become Strongest Candidates
Many people hope that in the future, the chief justice of the Constitutional Court can restore the court's credibility in addition to maintaining the court's independence.
By
SUSANA RITA KUMALASANTI
·5 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The performance of the Constitutional Court (MK) for the next five years will be determined this week when nine constitutional justices choose their chairman and vice chairman. The constitutional justices are expected to elect a new figure who is suitable and capable of working to restore the image of the Constitutional Court which has been damaged by the scandal over the change of its ruling as well as being able to block interventions from other branches of power.
That the Constitutional Court that is trusted by the public is important considering its position as the institution which makes the final decision in dispute resolutions in the presidential, legislative and regional head elections in 2024.
When contacted on Sunday (12/3/2023), former chief justice Hamdan Zoelva, reminded that in facing the 2024 election year, where the Constitutional Court has the position of giving legitimacy to election results, the Constitutional Court must be able to maintain public trust. "And people's trust is expensive because the final [election] process is at the Constitutional Court," he said.
For this reason, he hoped that in the future, the chief justice of the Constitutional Court can restore the court’s credibility in addition to maintaining the court's independence.
The Constitutional Court is currently being hit by a scandal about the apparent discrepancy between the reading in the final hearing and the official copies its ruling No. 103/PUU-XX/2022 regarding the replacement of constitutional justice Aswanto. The MK Honorary Council, which was formed to handle the case, is still investigating the judge suspected of changing the substance of the decision.
Two strongest candidates
The election of the chairman and vice chairman of the court is planned to take place on Wednesday (15/3). This election will be held according to the mandate of the decision on the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2020 concerning the Fourth Amendment to the Constitutional Court Law. In its decision, the election of the chief justice is no later than nine months from the Constitutional Court's ruling which was read out on 20 June 2022 or no later than 20 March 2023.
Anwar Usman has served as chairman of the court since 2 April, 2018, replacing Arief Hidayat. Referring to the old Constitutional Court Law which stipulated the term of office for leaders to be 2.5 years, Anwar should have resigned from his position as the chairman on 2 October, 2020. However, the latest Constitutional Court Law (2020) changed the term of office of the chairman and vice chairman to five years. The position of vice chairman has also been vacant following the dismissal of Aswanto by the House of Representatives in November 2022.
Based on observations by Kompas, of the nine constitutional judges who all have the opportunity to become head of the court, Anwar remains the strongest candidate. Apart from Anwar, Arief Hidayat, who was chairman for the 2015-2018 period, also has the opportunity to be reelected.
Among civilians, the two candidates have their own records. Anwar Usman is under scrutiny over his marriage to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's sister in 2022. Some people question Anwar's independence as the chairman of the court and as a judge regarding his status as the President's brother-in-law.
Meanwhile, Arief Hidayat has been subject to ethical sanctions twice by the Ethics Council. Both are light sanctions in the form of a written warning in the case of granting a katebelece (recommendation) to one of the prosecutors in 2015 and his meeting with members of Commission III of the House of Representatives, which oversees legal affairs, when he ran again to become a constitutional judge in 2017.
New face
Lecturer at the School of Law at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Fajrulrahman Jurdi, hopes that there will be a new face for the sake of regeneration within the institution.
“[We should consider] young people, who have had good achievements so far and whose integrity is beyond doubt. I think all of them have good integrity, but maybe these young people need to appear too," he said.
There is hope that new faces that are able to bring new energy could answer the difficult challenges ahead for the court when facing the year of national and regional elections.
Even though decision-making at the Constitutional Court is carried out through a deliberative forum of constitutional judges, the existence of election and local election dispute cases that have the potential to overflow in numbers requires leadership from the court’s leaders who have integrity and capability.
I think all of them have good integrity, but maybe these young people need to appear too.
Apart from that, he also hopes that the future chairman will be a progressive figure who is able to block intervention attempts from other branches of power outside the judiciary, such as the executive and judiciary.
After the dismissal of Constitutional Justice Aswanto by the DPR, the Constitutional Court was considered to be very prone to intervention.
In fact, the impartiality of judicial power must be maintained. “Because that is the essence of the branch of judicial power, it is impartial, cannot be intervened. Therefore, the accountability is held by the constitution, not from other branches of power," said Fajrulrahman.
One of the advocates who usually practices at the court, Viktor Santoso Tandiasa, is pessimistic that the election for the chairman and his deputy will elect a new figure, although he really hopes for someone new to protect the dignity of the Constitutional Court.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.