T

hree candidates are competing in front of the House of Representatives’ legal affairs commission to replace Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD whose tenure ends in April.

The candidates are Arief Hidayat, a professor of law at Diponegoro University; lecturer at Borobudur University, Djafar Albram, and Gunung Jati State Islamic University’s sharia lecturer, Sugianto.

On Wednesday, the three completed the first stage of the selection process by presenting academic papers. The next step is a fit-and-proper test before the commission next week.

One candidate will be selected to join eight justices at the Constitutional Court. That nine will then decide who among themselves should replace Mahfud.

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Indra asked for input form the public and civil societies on candidates’ track records to ensure all are able to maintain and uphold the Constitution.

“Our faction will try to make sure the selected justice has integrity, independence and morality, as well as the ability to act objectively as a statesman,” he said.

“We want all the justices to be able to provide unbiased rulings even though they are selected by the House and President.”

A group of representatives from judicial and human rights NGOs came to the commission to give input on the process.

“A justice must have a pluralist view as it is an important tool to ensure constitutional rights are met,” Wahyudi Djafar of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) told The Jakarta Post after the meeting.

He urged the lawmakers to scrutinize candidates’ partiality, saying that the Constitutional Court should be a neutral ground.

“A justice must be able to keep away from politics. Politics is a matter for the House when drafting laws.”

According to Wahyudi, Arief Hidayat, constitutional law lecturer and an expert at the Constitutional Court, is a fairly good candidate for the post.

Initially, there were six candidates, but former law and human rights minister Patrialis Akbar, Indonesia Islamic University law lecturer Ni’matul Huda and Krisnadwipayana University rector Lodewijk Gultom bailed out at the last minute.

Patrialis, put forward by National Mandate Party (PAN) and Gerindra, said he was not yet ready or willing to be a candidate. “Maybe next time I will be willing to serve my beloved country,” the former PAN lawmaker wrote.

Commission III deputy chairman Aziz Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party confirmed the three had left the race.

According to Aziz, Lodewijk wished to continue his role in education, while Ni’matul left the race when he failed to get permission from his university.

Mahfud, who took office in April 2008, is among the five justices who are set to leave the court when their terms expire this year.

The Constitution says the Court must have nine justices and that the House, the President and the Supreme Court are each entitled to appoint three justices to serve five-year terms.