Great Hopes Rest on the Shoulders of Eight Constitutional Court Judges

Great hopes are placed on the shoulders of the Constitutional Court judges. Accepting or rejecting a lawsuit must be strictly constitutional.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

The constitutional judge entered the courtroom to attend a hearing on the dispute over the results of the Presidential Election in the 2024 General Election at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday (28/3/2024).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Great hope is placed on the shoulders of the eight constitutional judges who handle the dispute over the results of the 2024 Presidential Election. They are expected to act as statesmen as well as protectors of the constitution when making decisions. Accepting or rejecting the lawsuit must be truly constitutional.

Professor of Constitutional Law at Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Susi Dwi Harijanti, sees that the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres) results dispute is more complex than the results dispute in the previous presidential election. The complexity of the case is based on a number of things, one of which is the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) Number 90/2023 which clears the way for President Joko Widodo's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to run for the 2024 presidential election. .

Also read: Waiting for the Constitutional Court's Decision which is No Longer a "Calculator Court"

Violate the code of ethics for judges and commissioners

As is known, the decision was marked by a violation of the code of ethics for constitutional judges. Anwar Usman, Gibran's uncle, was even dismissed from the position of Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court because of this ethical violation. "Apart from that, from the side of the election organizers there were also violations of the code of ethics," he said when contacted on Wednesday (17/4/2024).

Apart from that, from the side of the election organizers there were also violations of the code of ethics.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Chairman of the General Elections Commission Hasyim Asyari attended an ethics hearing against KPU leaders held by the Election Organizers' Honorary Council (DKPP) regarding the registration of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as a vice-presidential candidate in the DKPP hearing room in Jakarta on Monday (15/1/2024).

The issue of air pollution is not new. The community's condition being threatened by air pollution has been happening for a long time. There is no shortage of research evidence showing the threats of air pollution impacts. However, this has not yet led to significant efforts in controlling air pollution. As a result, residents suffer more and more due to air pollution. The Honorary Council of Election Organizers (DKPP) has even "sentenced" the General Election Commission (KPU) Chairman Hasyim Asy'ari for violating ethics and issued a final stern warning's sanction. The other six KPU members were also given a stern warning's sanction. Sanctions were imposed because they were judged to have violated ethics related to the follow-up to the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the requirements for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

The third complexity, according to Susi, is that President Joko Widodo openly made controversial statements, ranging from being allowed to participate in "cawe-cawe" in determining the next leader to his statement that the president can participate in campaigning.

Only in the 2024 presidential election dispute trial, many public figures, academics, artists and students volunteered as friends of the court (amicus curiae).

Not only that, only in the 2024 presidential election dispute trial, many public figures, academics, artists and students volunteered as friends of the court (amicus curiae). In general, they asked constitutional judges not to ignore ethical violations in Constitutional Court decision Number 90/2023 as well as fraudulent practices in elections which were deemed to have occurred in a structured, massive and systematic manner.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto (center), with PDI-P DPP Chairman Djarot Saiful Hidayat (second from right), at the Constitutional Court, Jakarta, after submitting the amicus curiae proposed by the PDI-P General Chair P Megawati Soekarnoputri, Tuesday (16/4/2024).

Therefore, according to Susi, the great hope now lies in the shoulders of the Constitutional Court judges. Everyone hopes that the judges can act as statesmen as well as protectors of the constitution.

Being a statesman must be interpreted as constitution-based statesmanship.

Being a statesperson, according to Susi, must be defined as constitutional statesmanship. Therefore, whoever is elected as a constitutional justice must position themselves as a constitutional officer who is above all groups. Their main task is to protect the constitution.

"This is their challenge. "Everyone is waiting for the constitutional address that the judge will deliver in the decision later, which will greatly influence the future of Indonesian state administration and the system of constitutionalism in Indonesia," said Susi.

Not a fraudulent election

The camp of presidential and vice-presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka believes that the applicants of the dispute case regarding the results of the presidential and vice-presidential election do not adhere to the procedural law regulated by the Election Law. They consider this case related to disputes over election results, not an issue of election fraud.

The statement was made by the legal representatives of Prabowo-Gibran after submitting their conclusion to the Constitutional Court (MK) in Jakarta on Tuesday (16/4/2024). In addition to the Prabowo-Gibran camp, the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) also delivered their conclusions. Previously, the presidential and vice presidential candidate teams of Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD had also delivered their conclusions.

The legal counsel for Prabowo-Gibran, Otto Hasibuan, stated that after the course of this case arrived at a conclusion, he obtained one thing that is clear and certain, that this case is related to a dispute over the election results. Therefore, the matter that should be questioned according to procedural law is regarding the vote count results of each presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairs.

Therefore, according to legal proceedings, what should be questioned is actually how many votes were truly obtained by 03 (Ganjar-Mahfud) or 01 (Anies-Muhaimin) and which of the KPU's vote calculations were incorrect. That is actually the essence of this matter.

"Therefore, according to legal procedure, what should be questioned is actually how many votes were actually obtained by 03 (Ganjar-Mahfud) or 01 (Anies-Muhaimin) and which KPU calculation of votes is incorrect. That is the actual issue," said Otto.

Member of the legal advisory team for Prabowo-Gibran, Otto Hasibuan, presented one of the conclusion files from the hearing related to the dispute over the election results to the Constitutional Court officials in Jakarta on Tuesday (16/4/2024).

Also read: Prabowo-Gibran Camp Assesses Petitioners Dispute on Presidential Election Results for Not Complying with Procedural Laws

Otto explained that the applicant party actually doesn't care about the legal procedures that have been regulated in the Election Law, namely related to vote counting. Instead, the applicant party filed a lawsuit based on allegations of cheating by the Prabowo-Gibran pair, thus requesting disqualification.

The issue of election fraud is not within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court (MK), but rather under the authority of the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu). On the other hand, there is no evidence of fraud alleged against the Prabowo-Gibran camp.

According to Otto, there are two crossroads in this case. Because, procedural law cannot be violated. The issue of fraud in elections is not the domain of the Constitutional Court, but Bawaslu. On the other hand, there is no evidence of fraud accused against Prabowo-Gibran (Kompas.id, 16/4/2024).

The decision remains April 22

Separately, spokesperson of the Constitutional Court, Fajar Laksono Suroso, stated that the decision on the dispute over the results of the 2024 presidential election will still be read on April 22. There is no change to the schedule for reading the verdict.

Before the verdict is read, the constitutional judges will hold a judges' conference (RPH). The RPH is to review every witness statement and evidence presented during the trial and formulate a decision after the series of evidentiary hearings end on Friday (5/4/2024).

What is discussed in the RPH is what will appear in the decision.

"What is discussed in the RPH is what will appear in the decision," said Fajar.

KOMPAS/RINI KUSTIASIH

Spokesperson for the Constitutional Court, Fajar Laksono Soeroso

Also read: MK Judges' Efforts to Explore Substantive Justice

In addition to examining witness testimony and evidence during the trial, the constitutional judge will consider written conclusions submitted by the relevant parties in the dispute over the results of the presidential election on Tuesday (16/4/2024). These parties include the plaintiff's camp, namely the presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairs Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD, the defendant's camp, namely the KPU, as well as the parties related to the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who received the most votes in the 2024 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

The constitutional justices will also consider the thoughts of the amicus curiae or friends of the court, some of which were submitted to the MK yesterday, namely PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri and four student organizations.

The four institutions referred to are the Justicia Student Council of the Faculty of Law at Gadjah Mada University, the Executive Student Body of the Faculty of Law at Diponegoro University, the Student Executive Body of the Faculty of Law at Padjadjaran University, and the Student Executive Body of the Faculty of Law at Airlangga University.

The applicant for the lawsuit against the presidential election results, among other things, requested that Prabowo-Gibran be disqualified and that a revote be held without the pair.