Mahfud promises court independency for justice

Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 11/05/2009 11:53 AM  |  National

"I will ensure the Constitutional Court will remain independent from outside influences," was the first pledge from Mahfud MD shortly after he was elected as the new chairman of the Court in 2008.

Mahfud, a professor of constitutional law, made this affirmation responding to the public's skepticism about the Court's independence if it was led by a politician.

Mahfud is politically affiliated with the National Awakening Party (PKB).

After he took office, Mahfud surprised the public by lashing out at regional administrations for enacting sharia-inspired bylaws.

At that time, nearly 40 of Indonesia's approximately 480 regencies and municipalities had enacted these sharia bylaws.

He then proved the Court's autonomy in 2008 when it turned down a complaint from losing candidate Khofifah Indar Parawansa during the East Java gubernatorial election.

The candidacy of Khofifah was supported by the PKB, a political party Mahfud was a member of.

The Court also ruled on judicial reviews concerning articles 28 and 11 on the 2008 Presidential Election Law allowing unregistered voters to cast their ballots using their ID cards.

Mahfud also dismissed complaints from losing presidential candidates Megawati Soekarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla over the July 8 presidential election.

Mahfud said Megawati and Kalla's claims that the General Election Commission (KPU) had committed fraud, which cost them a large number of votes, "lacked a legal basis".

"We found no systematic, structural or massive violation on KPU's part," he said.

"As a consequence, the election was not run illegally."

On Tuesday, the Court heard a taped recording submitted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) allegedly about plots to incriminate the two suspended KPK deputy leaders Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto.

Mahfud said the police had the right to detain their suspects, but in this case, the political impact of their action might cause prob-lems that could harm the country's democratic development.

The former legislator representing the PKB said he joined the Court because his "conscience called".

"The most important role of the Constitutional Court is to ensure the Constitution is the supreme law of the land," Mahfud said, who beat the well-respected Jimly Asshiddiqie to the chairmanship post.

Mahfud, a law professor at Indonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta, was defense minister under then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in 2000.

He was then reassigned as minister for justice and human rights before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) impeached Gus Dur.

Born in 1957 in Sampang on Madura Island, East Java, Mahfud received a PhD in legal studies from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, 1993.

Mahfud is married to Zaizatun Nihayati.

Before joining the PKB, Mahfud acknowledged he could not be separated in his work or thinking from either the Nahdatul Ulama (NU) or the Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's two largest Islamic organizations.

He said he was born and raised in an area that had a strong NU base.

He also said since that moving to Yogyakarta to study he had become increasingly influenced by Muhammadiyah.

Mahfud is a member of the Center for Strategy and Policy Study, set up by Amien Rais, who was also chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) at the time.

He said he wanted to make the Constitutional Court the court of final recourse for people to seek justice on constitutional matters.

Since its establishment in 2003, the Court has been reported to have played a central role in transforming the law in Indonesia and helping the process of democratic transformation.

The Court's jurisdiction includes reviewing laws that contradict the Constitution, deciding the dissolution of the political parties and providing legal advice to the House of Representatives on the impeachment of a president in the event they violate the Constitution.

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