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Constitutional Court justices meet to elect new leader
Constitutional Court justices are gathering on Friday to elect a leader for the 2017-2020 period.
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Close talk: Constitutional Court judges Arief Hidayat (center), Anwar Usman (left) and Maria Farida Indrati (right) preside over a hearing at the court in Jakarta on April 4. (Antara/M Agung Rajasa)
Constitutional Court justices are gathering to elect a leader for the 2017-2020 period.
Court spokesman Rubiyo said all of the court’s nine justices arrived at 8:30 a.m. at the court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, to attend a closed-door meeting aimed at reaching a consensus on who will be elected chief justice.
"All of the justices have the same chance to be elected [chief justice for the upcoming period]," Rubiyo told reporters.
(Read also: YLBHI, ICW oppose reelection of Constitutional Court chief)
Rubiyo said incumbent Arief Hidayat, a law professor from Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, who assumed his position in 2015, could also be elected for a second time, according to a prevailing regulation on the chief justice election mechanism.
If the meeting fails to reach a consensus, the justices will elect a leader through a vote. A justice who secures a majority of votes will be automatically elected the new chief justice. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Critics have voiced hopes that Friday’s election will deliver a new dawn for the Constitutional Court, which is still recovering from a series of scandals in recent months.
These include a corruption case involving former justice Patrialis Akbar and the theft of documents related to a regional election dispute case. (ebf)
