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YLBHI, ICW oppose reelection of Constitutional Court chief
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Close talk: Constitutional Court presiding judge Arief Hidayat (center) and panel members Anwar Usman (left) and Maria Farida Indrati (right) discuss during a hearing at the court in Jakarta on April 4. (Antara/M Agung Rajasa)
I
n view of the Constitutional Court (MK) chief’s substandard performance in the first half of his term, two notable law monitoring institutions have demanded that incumbent Arief Hidayat not be reelected to serve the remainder of his leadership.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) and the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) claimed Arief had failed to lead the court in the last two and half years, and therefore, should not be reelected for the remaining 2017-2019 term.
ICW researcher Lalola Easter cited that Arief had, among others, broken the court's code of ethics by sending a memo to former junior attorney general for supervision Widyo Pramono, requesting special treatment for his relative in Trenggalek regency, who was working as an attorney in the Trenggalek Prosecutors’ Office in East Java.
"On another occasion, Arief ruled in favor of a judicial review filed by a graft convict in Probolinggo [in East Java], which subsequently allowed the convicted candidate to participate in the simultaneous regional elections in July 2015," Lalola added.
YLBHI's head of advocacy Muhammad Isnur said Arief was among four justices at the court who had failed to submit their wealth reports to the state as requested by the law.
The election for chief justice of the Constitutional Court will be conducted on Friday, in which nine of the justices will hold an internal plenary meeting to determine who will lead the court for the next two and half years. (yon)
