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Gibran’s candidacy set to survive court ethics ruling
Hurried efforts to tighten eligibility requirements ahead of a deadline next week might not be enough to derail Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s bid for the vice presidency, constitutional law experts suggest.
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Former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie (center), court justice Wahiduddin Adams (left) and law professor Bintan R. Saragih stand by ahead of their inauguration as the court's ethics council members in Jakarta on Oct. 24, 2023. The council will investigate alleged conflicts of interest in a ruling that cleared the way for Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka to contest the presidential election. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
Fresh petitions to tighten eligibility requirements for presidential and vice-presidential candidates may not be enough to derail Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s bid for high office next year, experts have said, amid calls for the Constitutional Court to redeem itself in the aftermath of a severe ethics breach involving its chief justice.
On Wednesday, the top court began reviewing one of five judicial review petitions challenging a controversial ruling last month that cleared a path for 36-year-old Gibran to enter the 2024 presidential election as running mate to Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto.
While the court began the preliminary hearing without former chief justice Anwar Usman on the bench, signs indicated that Gibran might still be able to compete in spite of efforts to overturn the previous ruling.
Anwar was found guilty of a “serious ethics violation” for using his position to sway a court decision that allowed his nephew Gibran to circumvent the 40-year candidate age minimum.
At the one-hour hearing, the three presiding court justices suggested their actions would “not be dictated” by public pressure to fast-track their review so that the ruling could come out by Nov. 13, when the General Elections Commission (KPU) confirms the candidate pairs that are qualified to run next year.
The bench argued that the court had a “conveyer belt” full of other cases that also required the justices’ full attention.
