Indonesia - November 2023

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Anwar Usman was removed from his leadership post and will not be allowed to decide on election disputes, the court’s ethics council decided on 8 November. The council disciplined Anwar for failing to recuse himself from the 16 October decision that changed candidate minimum age provisions that allowed his nephew - and President Joko Widodo’s son - Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run as a vice presidential candidate in 2024 general elections. The remaining judges who joined that opinion were also reprimanded. Legal analysts generally praised the ethics council’s decision, with some arguing that Anwar should have been removed from the court entirely. The ethics council does not have authority to question the validity of the ruling itself, but several petitions challenging the exception granted to Gibran are due to be shortly before the court.

Sources: Jakarta Post, The Diplomat