"Considering arguments among academics, practitioners, and constitutional experts, the government decided to abide by the Constitutional Court's decision," Mahfud stated at a press conference in the Presidential Palace Complex here on Friday.
The coordinating minister's remarks were made after he presented his analysis report on MK's decision on the KPK leadership term and its retroactive implementation to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
The MK, on May 25, ruled in favor of KPK Deputy Head Nurul Ghufron's judicial review of Article 34 of Law No. 30 of 2002 on KPK and decided that KPK's leadership term should be five years instead of four.
Mahfud said the government would abide by the decision, as it is final and binding, though there are disagreements with the court on several aspects.
One aspect that the government disagreed with the court is the decision to apply the new leadership term retroactively to the current term.
Consequently, the current KPK commissioners, whose terms in office ought to conclude by year-end, would continue serving until the end of 2024.
"When the MK decided the KPK commissioners' term will be five years and will apply for the current term, the government will abide by the Constitution, which stipulates that MK's decision is final and binding," Mahfud remarked.
Adhering to MK's decision despite any disagreements showed that the government has followed the Constitution's stance, he affirmed.
"As (the government) has constitutional civility, we should adhere to MK's decision because once we fail to abide by it, the future government will disrespect future MK decisions," the coordinating minister remarked.
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Translator: Rangga Pandu AJ, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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