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Concerns of bias linger over Constitutional Court ethics council chief
Ex-chief justice Jimly, who declared his support for Prabowo in May, is now in the public crosshairs over his potential bias as he presided over the first hearing of an ethics investigation into Constitutional Court Chief Justice Anwar on Thursday.
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Former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie (center), incumbent Justice Wahiduddin Adams (left) and law professor Bintan R. Saragih stand together ahead of their inauguration on Oct. 24, 2023 in Jakarta as members of the court's ethics council. The council will investigate alleged conflicts of interest in the court’s recent ruling that cleared the way for Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka to contest next year’s presidential election. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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Jimly chairs the three-member ad hoc ethics council, which the Constitutional Court formed earlier this week to investigate alleged ethics violations in a controversial ruling.
The court ruled on Oct. 16 that the age of candidacy of 40 years did not apply to elected officials, which cleared the way for Anwar’s nephew-in-law Gibran Rakabuming Raka, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son, to contest the 2024 presidential election as Prabowo’s running mate.
Civil group the Public Virtue Research Institute (PVRI) warned about potential bias in the ethics council in view of Jimly having declared his support for Prabowo in May, when he was invited to a meeting with the Gerindra Party chairman. The group also highlighted that Jimly’s son had run for a Gerindra seat at the Jakarta City Council in 2019.
“There is potential for a conflict of interest due to Jimly being on the ethics council,” PVRI executive director Yansen Dinata said in a statement.
