Judicial Review of Voting Right Serves as First Test

ANTARA FOTO/RIVAN AWAL LINGGA

A member of the selection team for Constitutional Court justices, Aswanto, makes his statements during the fit-and-proper test by Commission III of the House of Representatives in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (06/02/2019). The fit-and-proper test was taken by 11 candidates.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The judicial review of the Election Law on the right to vote as regards the 2019 election will be the first test for Constitutional Court (MK) justices Aswanto and Wahiduddin Adams. The two, who were just appointed to their second terms by the House of Representatives Commission III, will also face a series of tests in protecting the dignity of the court.

Aswanto and Wahiduddin, whose first terms as MK justices will end on March 21, were unanimously appointed to serve their second five-year terms on Tuesday (3/12/2019), during a House Commission III plenary meeting at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. They were selected out of 11 candidates who underwent the House’s fit and proper test in February. The judicial selection was delayed for an entire month as the House factions said they needed time to consult with their party chairs.

Commission III deputy chair Trimedya Panjaitan said that Aswanto and Wahiduddin were selected, as they had been deemed capable of handling electoral disputes at the court. He said the 10 House factions would rather not risk electing new Constitutional Court justices amid the political dynamics of the 2019 election.

“Rather than electing new and untested individuals, we chose those with experience, especially as the election is approaching,” said Commission III chair Kahar Muzakir.

Aswanto first became Constitutional Court justice in 2014. A professor of criminal law at Makassar’s Hasanuddin University, he was the dean of Hasanuddin’s school of law from 2010 to 2014. Wahiduddin, who also first became Constitutional Court justice in 2014, is the former director general of regulations at the Law and Human Rights Ministry (2010-2014).

ANTARA FOTO/INDRIANTO EKO SUWARSO

A member of the selection team for Constitutional Court justices, Wahiduddin Adams, makes his statement during the fit-and-proper test by Commission III of the House of Representatives in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (06/02/2019). The fit-and-proper test was taken by 11 candidates.

Short term

Indonesian Legal Roundtable researcher Erwin Natoesmal Oemar said the House had taken a short-term view for their electoral interests in reappointing Aswanto and Wahiduddin. The Constitutional Court should not focus only on this year’s electoral disputes; it must also consider how to uphold the Constitution and protect civil rights through judicial review.

Kompas records show that one of the court’s most urgent tasks is to issue a decision on the judicial review of Law No. 7/2017 on the right to vote as regards the 2019 election. Two judicial reviews on the law have been filed with the court.

Erwin said Aswanto and Wahiduddin’s records from the last five years showed that the justices were relatively impartial in protecting human rights, especially as regards the freedom of expression and minority protection. “Based on their track record, we are concerned that the court may have minimal interest in protecting human rights,” he said.

Constitutional Court spokesman Fajar Laksono Soeroso said the two justices’ reappointments would benefit the court, as they simply needed to continue their work. Regarding criticisms that the two justices lacked a progressive approach on human rights, Fajar said the House had chosen them according to certain criteria.

Sealed

Commission III involved a panel of experts in the judicial selection, with each panelist providing their own list of the candidates they had deemed competent. The candidates were then ranked and submitted to the House as a sealed list for consideration.

Commission III member Arsul Sani said that Aswanto and Wahiduddin were among the names the panelists had submitted. Three panelists each submitted the names of four candidates while the fourth panelist submitted the names of five candidates. Aswanto and Wahiduddin were both on the fourth panelist’s list, while only one or the other was on the lists of the three other panelists.

Panelist Harjono said that only one candidate from the four on his list had been selected as Constitutional Court justice. (AGE/SPW/REK)