JAKARTA - The government of President Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka has once again reaped criticism because it is considered to have politicized the filling of positions in two different institutions.
At the same time, the president's nephew, Thomas Djiwandono, was elected as Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia while Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Adies Kadir as a constitutional judge proposed by the DPR.
The appointment of the two has sparked criticism from many quarters. There is suspicion that the Prabowo-Gibran government tends to centralize power and lead with a command political model.
"Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) assesses that the appointment of Adies Kadir and Thomas Djiwandono is part of the strengthening of the bad trend of the Prabowo-Gibran government and the DPR to politically control state institutions that should play a role as a counterweight to the work of the executive power," said ICW in a written statement.
Violating the MK LawOn Monday (26/1/2026), Commission III of the DPR gave its approval to the Deputy Chairman of the DPR from the Golkar Party Faction, Adies Kadir, to become the DPR's proposed constitutional judge after a short and sudden suitability and decency test process.
In fact, on August 21, 2025, the DPR had appointed the former Head of the DPR Expertise Agency Inosentius Samsul as a constitutional judge in a plenary meeting. On Tuesday (27/1/2026), the DPR Plenary Meeting appointed Adies as a replacement for Constitutional Judge Arief Hidayat who will enter retirement on February 3, 2026.
Professor of Constitutional Law at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Zainal Arifin Mochtar said that the main issue of the election of Adies Kadir as a candidate for constitutional judge was in the spotlight because the selection process was not carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law.
He said the nomination and election of constitutional judges did not comply with the principles set out in Law Number 7 of 2020 concerning the Constitutional Court (MK).
"In the Constitutional Court Law there is the principle of transparency, accountability, and participation. The process yesterday actually showed the absence of those principles," said Zainal.
The provision that the nomination process must be transparent and participatory is contained in Article 19 of the MK Law. Meanwhile, the requirements for accountability and objectivity are contained in Article 20 of the MK Law, although the procedures for the selection and election of constitutional judges are the authority of the proposing institution.
Zainal emphasized that without transparency and accountability, the public loses the right to know the reasons for the removal of Inosentius which had been previously announced. Thus, this condition makes the selection pose difficult to be held accountable normatively.
Apart from the appointment of Adies Kadir as a Constitutional Court judge, the public also criticized the appointment of Thomas Djiwandono as Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia.
The legal-formal data of the glasses, explicitly states that the success of the Constitutional Court as the final interpreter of the basic law, as well as the success of Bank Indonesia as the central bank that maintains the stability of the rupiah value, rests on the independence of each institution.
ICW explained, the General Explanation of the Constitutional Court Law elaborates specifically that the Constitutional Court must be free from the influence of the power of other institutions in upholding justice. On the other hand, Article 4 of the Bank Indonesia Law states that BI must be free from government interference in carrying out its duties and authority.
"The selection of party politicians to fill the position of MK judges and deputy governors of the BI is clearly contrary to this principle," said ICW.
Meritocracy is DeadIn addition, ICW said politicization would create conflicts of interest that would interfere with the Constitutional Court and the BI in carrying out their crucial functions in the future.
Regarding the Constitutional Court, the appointment of Adies Kadir is in line with the pattern of filling the position of judges proposed by the DPR, which has made constitutional judges an extension of legislative interests so as not to invalidate laws that have been drafted in Senayan.
In the fit and proper test process, Adies Kadir gave his view that the Constitutional Court should stop playing the role of a "positive legislator" who provides specific corrections to the sounds of the laws that are considered unconstitutional.
Thus, the appointment of Adies Kadir by the DPR can be considered as an attempt to retaliate against a number of Constitutional Court decisions that have recently received public support, but have been opposed by the DPR. It turns out, related to the affirmation that the election of regional heads must be directly chosen by the people as a consequence of Decision Number 110/PUU-XXIII/2025.
Meanwhile, regarding the appointment of Thomas Djiwandono as Deputy Governor of BI, it is also full of nepotism practices. This decision will be difficult to provide assurance that discussions on monetary policy will be free from presidential interference.
"Family relationships are one of the most visible forms of potential conflicts of interest and should be avoided from the start," ICW said.
ICW also highlighted the process of appointing Adies Kadir as a Supreme Court Justice proposed by the DPR as well as the appointment of Thomas Djiwandono as Deputy Governor of BI which further undermines meritocracy in filling public positions.
The meritocratic system places competence, professional track record, achievements, and anti-nepotism as the main criteria in filling professional positions. Moreover, for positions that need to ensure their independence, the criteria, said ICW, should be prioritized in the election of MK judges and deputy governors of the Bank Indonesia.
"The filling of these two positions by politicians shows that the government and the DPR are not based, but undermine the principle of merit, both in terms of the background of the position holders and the arbitrary process," he said.
"If the Prabowo-Gibran regime continues on the path of approving the independence of institutions outside the executive branch only to satisfy the desire for political power consolidation, the decline in public confidence in the quality of democracy and meritocracy of the government's course can be ensured. will continue to experience free fall," said the ICW statement.
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