Officially, Guntur Hamzah Becomes The Constitutional Court Judge Replaces Aswanto

Guntur Hamzah read out the oath of office as a judge of the Constitutional Court in front of President Jokowi at the State Palace in Jakarta Wednesday, November 23. (Between-Indra A)

Guntur Hamzah has officially become a judge of the Constitutional Court (MK) or a constitutional judge. Guntur read out the oath of office in front of President Jokowi at the State Palace in Jakarta today, Wednesday, November 23.

"By Allah, I swear that I will fulfill the obligations of the constitutional judge as well as possible and fairly as possible, uphold the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and carry out the law as straight as possible," said Guntur, saying his promise of office, confiscated by Antara.

The ceremony for taking the oath as a constitutional judge ended with the national anthem Indonesia Raya.

Previously, an internal meeting of Commission III of the DPR decided not to extend the term of office of the Constitutional Court judge from the DPR, namely Aswanto, so that he appointed Guntur Hamzah as his successor.

The reason for the removal, according to the Chairman of Commission III of the DPR, Bambang Wuryanto, was because Aswanto's performance was disappointing. Aswanto is said to have annulled the legislative product of the DPR.

Bambang also made an analogy between constitutional judges and the DPR such as the relationship between company directors and company owners. As the owner of the company, the DPR has the right to regulate the Constitutional Court judge; while as subordinates of the DPR, the Constitutional Court's decision must always be in accordance with the policies of the company owner.

For example, Bambang continued, in the judicial review of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation, d among eight other judges, Aswanto was one of the judges who stated that the Omnibus Law was against the conditional constitution.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that the appointment of Guntur Hamzah to replace Aswanto as a constitutional judge of the Constitutional Court was a form of authoritarianism and legal disobedience.

ICW stated that the DPR crashed into the provisions of Article 24 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia which guarantees the existence of the independence of the judiciary. The DPR is also considered contrary to Article 23 of Law Number 7 of 2020 concerning the Constitutional Court because Aswanto is not being dishonorably dismissed.

The DPR's attitude also violates Article 3 paragraph 1 of Law Number 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power which states that constitutional judges are obliged to maintain justice independence.

Meanwhile, LBH Jakarta said Aswanto's removal from the constitutional judge was a form of harassment of independence against freedom of justice power.