House set to appoint Constitutional Court judges
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives (DPR) is ready to appoint three Constitutional Court judges later this week, despite weak public response in evaluating the 14 candidates.
The House announced on Saturday -- one day before the end of the public scrutiny period that started on Aug. 9 -- the list of candidates nominated by the House's factions.
House Commission II, overseeing the selection, had received only three responses as of Monday, one from the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Islamic University (UII) and the two others from Achmad Zainuddin and Hary.
The 14 candidates will all undergo a fit and proper test from Aug. 13 to Aug. 14, after which the Commission is to select the three candidates to sit on the Constitutional Court. The final selection will be brought to the House's plenary session on Aug. 15 for approval.
A member of the Commission, Erna, said that UII supported the nomination of Dahlan Thaib, a lecturer at the university, while Achmad Zainuddin reminded legislators that Constitutional Court judges carried a huge responsibility on their shoulders and as such, legislators should carry out the selection process seriously.
Hary, the last respondent to the public scrutiny, questioned the absence of noted Constitutional Law experts, such as Harun Alrasyid and Ismail Suny, and Criminal Law expert Loebby Loeqman on the list of nominees.
A frantic hunt for Constitutional Court judges began last week following the endorsement of the court's bill on Aug. 6. The new law stipulates that there are to be nine Constitutional Court judges and that the President, the House and the Supreme Court are responsible for the selection of three judges each.
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director general for legislation Abdulgani Abdullah said on Monday that his ministry would submit six nominees to the President on Tuesday.
One of the nominees is I Dewa Gede Palguna, a member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) representing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan said that he would appoint three judges based on his own criteria, without a public selection process.
Some candidates were seen on Monday at the Commission II Secretariat completing their nomination documents, including former legislator Achmad Rustandi, expert on law Haryono from Surabaya-based Airlangga University, and former Supreme Court justice Edith Nababan.
Despite the House's seemingly open and transparent process in the candidates' public examination, many still questioned whether public opinion had any real impact on the selection process.
Judging from past practices, in which the selection of public officials have almost always been based on their political connections, analysts expressed their doubts that legislators would truly heed public aspirations.
Legislator Baharuddin Aritonang, who took part in the drafting of the Constitutional Court bill, acknowledged that the House's candidates could not be separated from their political connections with the legislature.
Judge candidates
--------------------------------------------------------------- No. Candidates Background Age --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Achmad Rustandi Former legislator 62 2. Ali Hardi Kiaidemak United Development Party (PPP) 62
legislator 3. Benyamin Mangkoedilaga Former Supreme Court justice 66 4. Dahlan Thaib UII lecturer 52 5. Djuhad Mahja PPP politician 61 6. Edith Nababan Former Supreme Court justice 66 7. Eko Sugitario Surabaya University lecturer 55 8. Harun Kamil MPR member/Interest Group 60 9. Haryono Lecturer/PDI Perjuangan cadre 55 10. I Dewa Gede Atmadja Udayana University lecturer 59 11. I Dewa Gede Palguna Lecturer/PDI Perjuangan cadre 42 12. Jimly Asshiddiqie University of Indonesia 47
lecturer 13. Fajrul Falaakh National Law Commission member 44 14. Soebagyo Sahid University lecturer 63 --------------------------------------------------------------- Source: House Commission II for legal affairs