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Arief elected MK chief for second time
Incumbent Arief Hidayat was elected Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice for the 2017-2020 period, following a three-hour meeting among justices to choose a new leader on Friday.
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Re-elected: Vice President Jusuf Kalla (left) congratulates Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice Arief Hidayat (center) and his wife, Tundjung Herning Sitabuana, after his inauguration ceremony at the MK building in Jakarta on July 14. Arief was re-elected as MK chief justice for the 2017-2020 period. (JP/Wahyu Putro A.)
Incumbent Arief Hidayat was elected Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice for the 2017-2020 period, following a three-hour meeting among justices to choose a new leader on Friday.
Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting, held at the Constitutional Court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Arief promised that the nation’s top court would to be more “optimal” in handling cases under his leadership.
Arief, whose first term started in 2015, said he hoped the Constitutional Court would handle no more regional election disputes, saying the top court’s justices, nine in total, had been overwhelmed by the task.
“It would be better if there was a special court for regional election disputes as stipulated [by the Regional Elections Law]. Therefore, we can focus on carrying out our tasks as stipulated in the Constitution,” said Arief, a law professor from Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java.
People have voiced hope that Friday’s election would bring a new dawn for the Constitutional Court, which is recovering from a series of scandals in recent months, such as a corruption case involving disgraced justice Patrialis Akbar and the theft of documents related to regional election disputes.
Court secretary-general Guntur Hamzah said it was possible there would for another chief justice election in 2018 because Arief’s five-year term as a justice would end in April next year. (mos)
