The court on Friday, March 21, had sworn in two new justices to fill the vacancies following the arrest of former chief justice Akil Mochtar by the Corruption Eradication Commission and the retirement of justice Haryono.
"Starting next week we will consist of nine (justices)," the courts chief justice Hamdan Zoelva said after the swearing in ceremony at the State Palace.
In view of that, Hamdan Zoelva had expressed thanks to the House of Representatives (DPR) that had immediately acted to fill the vacancies.
"We also thanked the President who had speeded up the implementation of the swearing in ceremony, so that we now have full capacity to handle possible 2014 elections disputes," he added.
He said, "With nine justices the three panels of the court will be filled, and we are convinced any election dispute brought to the court can be settled in time within a month."
Indonesia plans to hold legislative elections on April 9 and immediately after that there will be a presidential election on July 9. Therefore, any dispute from the legislative elections, by law, must be settled within 30 days so that it would not disrupt the presidential election.
The two new justices sworn in at the State Palace on Friday and witnessed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were DR Wahiduddin Adams and Professor Aswanto.
The two, who were appointed based on the Presidential Decree Number 19 of 2014, were elected recently through a vote by the House of Representatives Commission III, beating two other candidates namely Nimatul Huda and Atip Latipulhayat.
The four candidates were recommended by a panel of experts based on their knowledge of constitutional law as well as their performances during screening tests.
Wahiduddin Adams obtained his doctorate degree from the Shariah and the Law Faculty of State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah in Jakarta. He retired as a staff member of the ministry of legal affairs and human rights and once worked under former ministers Patrialis Akbar and Mahfud MD, Constitutional Court justice and former Constitutional Court chief justice, respectively.
Aswanto had obtained his doctorate degree in criminal law from state Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java.
He is a professor and also a dean of the Law Faculty of state Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The Constitutional Court received a huge blow when its chief justice Akil Mochtar was caught by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for alleged involvement in a bribery case on October 2 last year.
The news came as a shock to the people as the countrys highest court had so far been highly regarded for its rulings on several high-profile cases.
Akils case has now been filed in court. Prosecutors of the KPK have charged Akil Mochtar of receiving Rp63.315 billion in bribes in exchange for his favor in dealing with nine regional election disputes, Rp10 billion in the form of a pledge related to a East Java regional election dispute and also of money laundering worth Rp161 billion committed in the 2010-2013 period and another Rp22.21 billion in the 1999-2010 period.
Akil was accused of receiving bribes in connection with election disputes in Gunung Mas district worth Rp3 billion, Lebak district worth Rp1 billion, Empat Lawang district Rp10 billion and US$500,000, Palembang city Rp19.9 billion, Lampung Selatan district Rp500 million, Buton district Rp1 billion, Morotai Island Rp2.99 billion, Tapanuli Tengah Rp1.8 billion, Banten province Rp7.5 billion and the East Java province in the form of a pledge of Rp10 billion.
Hamdan Zoelva said in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Saturday, March 22, the elections would likely see disputes, due to the countrys vast geography and the large number of participants.
He said the disputes will still be about voting issues, such as differences in vote calculations, although it was also not impossible for the stealing of votes to occur and, therefore, he had taken anticipatory measures by setting up a task force.
However, he predicted their number would be smaller. "We predict it will not be large because the number of political parties involved in the elections this year is fewer than in 2009, when it was 36," he said.
Only 15 political parties, including three local Aceh parties for the Aceh electorate, will participate in the upcoming legislative elections.
Hamdan Zoelva also believed that the number of disputes will also decline because KPUs preparations were better now. In addition, KPU is committed to not delaying the settlement of any election problems that could arise.
"The election disputes that are brought to the Constitution Court are actually leftover problems that are not yet settled by the KPU," he added.
Hamdan said the Constitutional Court had already started preparing the mechanism for the settlement of election disputes.
"I have also prepared a task force involving more than one hundred Constitution Court staff to back up the handling of election disputes at the court," he said.
He added that he had many personnel to handle the 2014 election disputes because the court is only given 30 days to settle them.
Hamdan said he had also conducted information campaigns about court procedures among elections participants so that "they know what to do when they have to convene at the court."
To prevent possible rigging and frauds, popular presidential candidate from the Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) Joko Widodo in a campaign rally in Lampung Tengah, Sumatra, on Saturday, March 22, called on the public to monitor activities at polling stations in their respective villages.
"Do not be fooled. It would be useless for us to work hard if finally we are only fooled," he said.
He said, "If the votes we collect total 1,380, but are later reported with the zero digit omitted, the total would only be 138. The number may even reach only eight if it is later cut again at a higher station."
Regarding elections rule violations, an election monitoring committee (Panwaslu) chief in Kotawaringin Timur, Central Kalimantan, said, in March 14, the potential for such acts to occur in the region was strong.
Based on our monitoring of two election districts namely District IV and V in Kotawaringin Timur, we think they are vulnerable because of their locations, which are far away from the districts capital, he said.
A law professor said in a national seminar on election disputes at Sriwijaya University in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday, March 25, there are still legislative candidates who are not yet ready to accept defeat.
Professor Saldi Isra from state Andalas University based in Padang, West Sumatra, said in view of that the Constitutional Court would play a very important role if disputes occur.
He said the court will be the only institution that conflicting parties will rely on for the settlement of their cases.
Sriwijaya University professor Amzullah Rifai therefore warned Constitutional Court justices must never step aside to assure smooth settlement of the conflicts. (BSR/A014)
Reporter: Yoseph Hariyadi
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
