Shortly after he was installed as the new head of the Constitutional Court a week ago, Moh. Mahfud M.D., lashed out at regional administrations for enacting sharia-inspired bylaws.
His statement came at a time when the bylaws have been enacted in nearly 40 of the country's approximately 480 regencies during the past few years.
Mahfud's remark may have a lot to do with the organization which nurtured him -- the Nahdlatul Ulama -- often seen as embracing and the champion of progressive Islam.
But Mahfud's challenge looms larger than the bylaws. As a former lawmaker himself, Mahfud must be acutely aware of the country's sorry state of lawmaking, in terms of its expertise as well as the entrenched culture of money politics.
This should make him aware that he will not be sitting idly in leading the five-year-old institution for the next three years. Huge tasks are waiting on his door step, including the arbitration of any disputes that may arise after the 2009 legislative and presidential elections.
In any event, the Court has to tread a fine line between fulfilling popular aspirations for justice and the demands of political pressure.
The former minister of defense under Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's presidency, Mahfud should consider himself fortunate for having someone such as Jimly Asshiddiqie as his court predecessor.
Credit is due to this University of Indonesia law professor who held two terms of Court leadership since its inception.
It is true there have been controversial decisions coming from the Court, but it is also true that Jimly has brought the Court into the public psyche in a short time.
His tireless media appearances, his patience in introducing the new institution to the public and his persistence in educating the people regarding its important role has rightly earned respect both for him and the Court.
Like all endeavors, the first step is often the hardest. It must be remembered that all this has been done in a country which only recently has been freed from the shackles of dictatorship and is still suffering from an acutely weak judiciary.
The fruit of the 1998 political reformation, the Court was hastily established on Aug. 16, 2003, after the government and the House deliberated the Constitutional Court bill for only one month; its establishment has chilled the bones of investors. Aware of the country's poor performance in upholding justice, they are worried about possible changes in the law following the establishment of the Court.
Its ruling that Law No. 19/2004 on forestry is constitutional is a case in point. In effect, the July 2005 ruling allows a number of firms to conduct open-pit mining in protected forests.
Another ruling was when the Court rejected a petition from a number of NGOs and individuals to declare certain articles of the Water Resources Law (No. 7/2004) unconstitutional. The court said in its July 2005 ruling that the government had the right to award licenses to private sector firms, cooperatives and the public sector to manage water resources.
This episode has underlined the need for the enhancement of lawmaking expertise among our legislators -- simply because good legislations should mean less work for the institution.
Now that the Court has become part of the people's consciousness, it is time for Mahfud to provide the soul to the institution.
The Court should find a new equilibrium among the executive, legislative and judicative arms so that its task of guarding the Constitution and the conscience of the people can be accomplished.
