Saldi Isra (JP)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reportedly picked constitutional law professor Saldi Isra as the new Constitutional Court (MK) justice, replacing disgraced former justice Patrialis Akbar, who was recently sacked after being arrested on bribery charges.

Saldi was one of three candidates proposed by an independent selection committee to President Jokowi on Monday.

The Andalas University professor topped the list after accumulating the highest score in the selection process.

Presidential spokesman Johan Budi confirmed on Friday that Jokowi had picked one of the three candidates to replace Patrialis, but declined to name names.

“The new MK will be announced soon. The inauguration ceremony is expected to take place in a few days,” Johan said.

But former Constitutional Court justice Harjono, who led the selection team, told The Jakarta Post he had received an invitation to attend Saldi’s inauguration at the State Palace on April 11.

“I received the invitation from an official at the State Secretariat office. I asked the official who the new MK justice was and he said Saldi Isra. I will attend the inauguration,” he said.

Harjono went on to say that Saldi has had a good track record in the field of academics, and he actively participates in a number of civil society movements to push for good governance in state institutions across the country.

Harjono said he was confident Saldi could inject fresh energy into the Constitutional Court in carrying out internal reforms.

“We are sure that he is the best candidate for the post,” Harjono added.

Dubbed as a child of the reform era after its establishment in 2003, the Constitutional Court has in recent years been hit by a series of graft scandals.

Patrialis, who was accused of accepting US$20,000 and S$200,000 in bribes to rig a judicial review petition ruling, was not the first justice to be embroiled in a corruption scandal.

In 2014, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former MK chief justice Akil Mochtar to life in prison for amassing and laundering Rp 181 billion (US$13.58 million) he accepted from regional heads for selling favorable rulings on election disputes since first becoming Constitutional Court justice in 2008.

Saldi, a long time critic of the court, has been seen as the favorite candidate for the post since he announced his intention to join the selection process.

The author of numerous books on good governance and conditional laws, Saldi has received a number of awards in the past decade as a result of his active participation in various civil society movements.

In 2004, as an activist from the West Sumatra Care Forum, he received the prestigious Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award for his role in revealing corruption cases centered around the West Sumatra legislative council state budget, which had gone on since 1999.

In 2012, he was also granted the Megawati Soekarnoputri Award for his active role in anti-corruption.

Born on Aug. 20, 1968, Saldi is currently head of Andalas University’s doctoral program at its School of Law. He also teaches Constitutional Law at the Padang-based university.

Saldi earned his Bachelors of Law at Andalas University in 1995 before graduating from the Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research at the University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 2001, with a masters on Public Administration (MPA). In 2009, he received his Doctor of Law from Gadjah Mada University.

Throughout 2015, Saldi and other anti-corruption activists led nationwide campaigns dubbed “SAVE KPK,” referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission, and criticized the President for his inaction on the National Police’s dubious charges against KPK chairman Abraham Samad and his deputy Bambang Widjojanto.

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