Anwar Usman Removed, Age Limit Requirements Tested Again
After Anwar Usman is dismissed from the position of Chairman, the Constitutional Court will hold a material review of the age limit requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates.
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The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Anwar Usman Dicopot, Syarat Batas Usia Diuji Lagi
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Three members of the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court, namely Jimly Asshiddiqie (middle), Wahiduddin Adams (left), and Bintan R Saragih (right), during the Ethical Decision Hearing held by the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court at the Constitutional Court Building, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/11/2023).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court removed Anwar Usman from his position as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court because he was proven to have committed serious violations of the code of ethics and behavior of constitutional judges. This occurred in particular due to a conflict of interest in handling the case regarding testing the age requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates in case number 90/PUU-XXI/2023.
The council also forbids Anwar from participating in examining and deciding on the case of testing Article 169 letter q of the Election Law regarding the age of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, which will soon be handled by the Constitutional Court.
The ethical principle and behavior of constitutional judges violated by Anwar are impartiality, integrity, competence, equality, independence, as well as appropriateness and courtesy.
As a follow-up, the MK Honorary Council (MKMK) ordered the Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court to lead the election of a new chairman within 2 x 24 hours. Anwar is prohibited from running for office or being nominated as a member of the MK leadership until his term of office as a MK judge ends.
MK spokesperson Enny Nurbaningsih, when asked for confirmation, revealed that the Constitutional Court must hold a meeting of judges' deliberation (RPH) first to discuss the MKMK ruling. "As soon as possible, tomorrow RPH first," said Enny.
The MK Honorary Council stated that some of the complaints of ethical violations against Anwar Usman and eight other judges were proven. MKMK received 21 complaints from a number of parties. The decisions for the 21 complaints were read out in full on Tuesday (7/11/2023) in four separate files.
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The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Anwar Usman (left), attended the Ethics Hearing with the agenda of examining himself as a defendant by the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court at the Constitutional Court Building 2 in Jakarta on Tuesday (31/10/2023).
In considering the decision for Anwar Usman, MKMK noted that they observed Anwar's conduct during the period of the process of revocation and cancellation of case number 90 on Friday (29/9/2023) and Saturday (30/9/2023).
During the examination, MKMK found that Anwar Usman paid close attention to the revocation and cancellation of revocation, which was marked by his presence at the MK office on Saturday. Anwar also requested the presence of the clerk at the same time to submit the documents related to revocation and cancellation of revocation.
"This reinforces the impression of the Honorable Council that the reported judges pay more attention to the case in question. In his capacity as the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the administrative affairs related to the revocation and cancellation of the revocation of the case should be delegated to the process in the registry of the Constitutional Court," as stated in the Constitutional Court's consideration.
MKMK scrutinizes the oddity of Anwar Usman's personal intervention in revoking and canceling the revocation.
Decision number 90 was highlighted by the public because it provided the red carpet for President Joko Widodo's eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to become vice presidential candidate. Meanwhile, Anwar Usman has a family relationship with the President considering that he married Jokowi's sister, Idayati. After the 90th decision, Gibran was declared Prabowo Subianto's vice presidential candidate and registered with the General Election Commission.
To avoid potential conflicts of interest in the future, MKMK prohibits Anwar from being involved or involved in the examination and decision-making process on cases of disputes in the election of the president and vice president; the election of members of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD; as well as the election of governors, regents, and mayors. This is aimed at ensuring public trust.
Regarding this decision, MKMK member, Bintan R Saragih, submitted a different opinion (dissenting opinion). According to him, the only sanction for serious violations is dishonorable dismissal. "There are no other sanctions as regulated in Article 41 Letter c and Article 47 of Constitutional Court Regulation Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court," said Bintan.
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The head of the ethics committee of the Constitutional Court Honorary Council, Jimly Asshiddiqie, carried the Red and White flag on his shoulder as a sign of respect from the complainants after the Ethics Verdict Session held by the Constitutional Court Honorary Council at the Constitutional Court Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (11/7/2023).
In its decision, the Constitutional Court (MKMK) stated that it could not make an assessment on decision number 90 as it went beyond the jurisdiction of the MKMK. If the MKMK were to assess and correct decision number 90, it would infringe upon the final and binding nature of the MKMK's decisions as stipulated in Article 24C Paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.
After reading the decision, Jimly revealed that the Constitutional Court is authorized to re-examine the testing of Article 169 Letter q of the Election Law. Moreover, there is currently a new testing request that has been submitted to the Constitutional Court.
Also read: After the MKMK decision, the campaign team believes that Prabowo-Gibran is not affected
Regarding the new testing, MKMK bans Anwar from participating in examining and deciding on the case of testing Article 169 Letter q of the Election Law which is currently being handled by the MK. Specifically, MKMK grants the request submitted by the Executive Board of the Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia University Student Body (Unusia) as part of advocacy for case number 141/PUU-XXI/2023.
The case was filed by Brahma Aryana, a student of the Faculty of Law at Unusia, who is challenging the constitutional validity of the age limit requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates. The case will be heard on Wednesday (11/8/2023) at a preliminary hearing.
"The Honor Council has recommended to the Constitutional Court that the case examination of case number 141/PUU-XXI/2023 be carried out by eight constitutional judges without involving the accused judge," said the Honor Council."
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Professor of Constitutional Law at Universitas Padjadjaran, Susi Dwi Harijanti, appeared as an expert witness in a information dispute hearing between Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs concerning the right to information about the appointment of Acting Regional Heads. The hearing took place in the Central Information Commission courtroom in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/5/2023).
Professor of Constitutional Law at Padjadjaran University, Susi Dwi Harijanti, has called on the Constitutional Court to swiftly examine the request to test Article 169, letter q. There is a need to conduct the examination quickly.
The decision of the Constitutional Court should also be a lesson for the Court itself. The Court should not make decisions during the election process.
Regarding the ethical decision against Anwar, Susi considered the decision to be the best, even though it was compromise. He quoted Bintan R Saragih's dissenting opinion that what should have been dishonored was a dishonorable dismissal in accordance with Constitutional Court Regulation Number 1 of 2023.
In addition to the decision regarding Anwar, MKMK also stated that all constitutional judges violated the code of ethics by allowing the leakage of information regarding the judge's deliberation. They were collectively given a verbal warning as a sanction. Constitutional Judge Arief Hidayat, meanwhile, received an additional written warning as a result of his public opinion.
It had no impact on Gibran
Echo's Law and Advocacy Commander of the National Campaign Team for Indonesia Maju, Hinca Pandjaitan, believes that the decision of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) has no impact whatsoever on the decision of Constitutional Court number 90 regarding the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, as well as the requirement for vice-presidential candidates.
Therefore, the Prabowo-Gibran presidential and vice presidential candidate pair have registered with the KPU and followed the entire registration process. The KPU has also made the decision that the Prabowo-Gibran pair is a legitimate pair.
"We would like to inform the public that there is no doubt whatsoever that this pair is sailing smoothly," he said.
Regarding the case number 141 that was registered a few days ago in the Constitutional Court (MK), according to Hinca, the result will not affect the nomination of Prabowo-Gibran. This is because the case pertains to a different matter and will not take effect until 2029.
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Gibran Rakabuming Raka greeted his supporters after registering as a prospective presidential and vice-presidential candidate alongside Prabowo Subinato for the 2024 election at the Election Commission office in Jakarta on Wednesday (25/10/2023). Prabowo and Gibran are supported by nine political parties that are part of the Indonesia Maju Coalition.
He also noted that the finding of the MKMK regarding the leakage of information during the deliberation meeting of the Constitutional Court judges falls under criminal jurisdiction. He urged law enforcement authorities to follow up and find the perpetrators. (ANA/BOW/WIL/ESA)
