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Constitutional Court to elect new chief justice
The Constitutional Court (MK) will elect a new chief justice to replace Arief Hidayat, whose official tenure as the court's leader ended when his first five-year term as a justice of the court ended this month.
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The Constitutional Court justices deliver a ruling in this file photo taken on Feb. 7, 2017. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
T
he Constitutional Court (MK) will elect a new chief justice to replace Arief Hidayat, whose official tenure as the court's leader ended when his first five-year term as an appointed justice of the court ended this month.
The 2011 Constitutional Court Law and the court's 2012 regulation stipulate that the positions of chief justice and deputy chief justice – which are elected among the court's nine appointed justices to three-year terms – would terminate immediately upon the end of a justice's tenure, Constitutional Court deputy chief justice Anwar Usman said.
Arief, who was sworn in to his second and final appointed term as a Constitutional Court justice on Tuesday by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, served as chief justice in 2015-2017 and was reelected last July to serve from 2017 to 2020. Arief had served only eight months of his second three-year tenure as the court's leader when his five-year appointment as a court justice ended.
The nine appointed justices, including Arief, agreed during a plenary meeting to elect a new chief justice on Monday for the 2018-2021 term.
"The plenary meeting has also concluded that Arief is no longer eligible to be elected as Constitutional Court chief justice in the upcoming election," Anwar told a press conference on Wednesday.
The 2011 law and the 2012 regulation restricts the position of chief justice to a maximum of two three-year terms.
"There are eight justices who are equally eligible to be elected [as chief justice]," Anwar noted.
The chief justice is to be selected in a closed meeting attended only by the court’s justices. If the justices are unable to reach a consensus, the new chief justice will be elected by vote at a meeting that is open to the public.
