They are National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ahmad Taufik Damanik, former Supreme Court chief justice Bagir Manan, international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana, law expert Bivitri Susanti, legal analyst Margarito Kamis and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo. The latter will not attend the debate so as to maintain the KPK’s status as an independent body.

The questions will cover law, human rights, corruption and terrorism. Here is some background on the panelists:

Ahmad Taufik Damanik was elected as the National Commission on Human Rights chairman in 2017. He will lead the commission, which has been a beacon in the country’s human rights fight, until 2020. He was a lecturer at the University of North Sumatra’s school of social and political sciences in Medan.

He is also listed as a commissioner at the ASEAN Human Rights and Women Rights Promotion and Protection Commission.

Bagir Manan was a Supreme Court chief justice from 2001 to 2008. Graduated with a PhD in law from the University of Padjadjaran Bandung, he became a chairman of the Press Council from 2010 to 2016.

Bagir served as rector of Bandung Islamic University for two periods: 1985–1986 and 2000–2001. He also held several public positions, namely director of legislation (1990-1995) and director general of law and legislation (1990-1998) at law ministry. He was also once a member of the Bandung Legislative Council, and the Indonesian Ombudsman.

Hikmahanto Juwana is a doctoral graduate from the University of Nottingham and a professor of international law at the University of Indonesia’s school of law.

He became the youngest law professor in the country’s history at the age of 38 years. He also worked as a lawyer for some time and served as a staff member to then-coordinating economics minister Kwik Kian Gie.

Hikmahanto was one of the moderators of the 2014 presidential election debates that also featured Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto as presidential candidates.

Bivitri Susanti is a constitutional law expert who graduated as a master of law and development from the University of Warwick. She is one of the cofounders of think tank Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies, in which she actively conducts research on legislation.

She also founded law school Jentera College and has been a lecturer there until now. She is often invited as an expert witness in cases handled by the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court and served as an expert staff member at the People’s Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives. Her area of expertise is drafting legislation and anticorruption measures.

Margarito Kamis is a constitutional law expert from North Maluku. He once served as an expert witness defending the ticket of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa in a dispute over the 2014 presidential election results, expressing the opinion that the additional voters list was invalid at the time.

He has a PhD from the University of Indonesia and was a staff member with the State Secretariat from 2006 to 2007. He is currently a chief lecturer at Ternate-based University of Khairun’s school of law.

Agus Rahardjo is the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman for the 2014-2019 period. He is the first KPK leader with no formal education in law or experience at law enforcement agencies.

He began his career as a civil servant in with the National Development Planning Board and became a cofounder and the chairman of the National Procurement Agency (LKPP) from 2010 to 2015. At the agency, he reformed and modernized public services at the central government and local administrations. (ggq)