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The integrity of Indonesia’s 2024 general election is at stake
The Constitutional Court must respond to the public's rising concern as to whether it can truly function as an impartial referee in next year's election, given its chief justice's ties to the First Family by marriage.
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Constitutional Court Chief Justice Anwar Usman presides over a hearing on June 15, 2023, when the court read out its decision to pass the buck to the legislature to determine the voting system for an election. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
For more than 20 years, the results of Indonesia’s elections have possessed strong legitimacy among the public despite their being contested repeatedly by the losing side. Alas, this may no longer be the case in the 2024 general election, as the Constitutional Court, the ultimate arbiter of electoral disputes, has lost its credibility as an impartial adjudicator.
The reason for this is clear: The court’s chief justice, Anwar Usman, is a brother-in-law of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who has openly expressed his intention to interfere in the election in the name of “public interests”. This practically turns Jokowi into a party of interest in the presidential race slated for Feb. 14, 2024.
We should have seen this coming, had we not been so permissive of the various maneuvers, including several legal and constitutional acrobatics, displayed by the incumbent president to secure his political legacy.
We strongly opposed the initiative led by the President’s inner circle for a constitutional amendment to extend his term in office, calling it a threat to democracy. But this proposal was so egregious that other political elites within the ruling coalition, primarily the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), were quick to shut it down.
The elites, however, have little concern about the fact that the leader of the Constitutional Court, as the sole guardian of our Constitution that serves as the bedrock of our democracy, is related to the President by marriage. Anwar tied the knot with Idayati, the President's younger sister, in May last year.
While it is true that no laws have been broken here, and that Anwar might promise that he won’t be swayed by anything but the 1945 Constitution, there is no doubt that the familial relationship between them is highly problematic.
As the leader of the executive branch, a key institution in legislation, President Jokowi is a key defendant in all petitions for judicial review handled by the court. This fact alone should have forced Anwar to recuse himself from adjudicating any petitions submitted to the court.
