Gibran’s legitimacy as vice presidential candidate collapsed

2023-11-07 14:58:38

The four decisions of the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) which were read out on Tuesday (7/11) did not break the steps of President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as a potential vice presidential candidate to accompany Prabowo Subianto. However, the MKMK’s decision, especially the one that imposed the sanction of dismissing Anwar Usman as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, has undermined Gibran’s legitimacy in the 2024 presidential election contest.

Senior researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Lili Romli, is of the opinion that the MKMK’s decision shows ethical flaws regarding Gibran’s candidacy even though formally the status of cawapres candidate is still attached to him to this day. Apart from the serious violations committed by Anwar, other constitutional judges were also proven to have committed ethical violations related to MK decision Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023.

“Even though Gibran can formally run as Prabowo Subianto’s vice presidential candidate, it is ethically flawed and could erode his legitimacy as vice presidential candidate,” Lili told Media Indonesia.

Also read: MKMK Decides that All Constitutional Judges Violate the Code of Ethics

Lili also opened up the possibility of potential delegitimization of Gibran’s candidacy if the MKMK decision was capitalized on by political opponents of the Prabowo-Gibran pair. Apart from that, he also said that the MKMK’s decision could be used as an argument in the discourse on submitting a right to inquiry pushed by PDI-P politician Masinton Pasaribu.

“Of course the right of inquiry is not to carry out an investigation and cancel the Constitutional Court’s decision, but is related to the conflict of interest and power relations that occurred so that the decision (Number 90) was issued,” explained Lili.

Also read: MKMK Says MK Judges Often Allow Violations

Even though she appreciates the MKMK’s decision to impose sanctions on the dismissal of Anwar, who is Gibran’s uncle and Jokowi’s brother-in-law, from the position of Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Lili agrees more with the dissenting opinion or different opinion expressed by MKMK member Bintan R Saragih, namely the dishonorable dismissal of Anwar.

It is known that MK decision Number 90 has changed the norm for the age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates outlined in Law Number 7/2017 concerning Elections to a minimum of 40 years. Through this decision, the Constitutional Court increased the age requirement to a minimum of 40 years or having previously/currently held a position elected through elections, including regional head elections. Gibran himself is currently 36 years old. (Z-10)