MK Decided to Not Summon Jokowi over Head of State Title

TheIndonesia.id - The Constitutional Court (MK) has decided against summoning President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to the 2024 General Election disputes hearing, considering his status as head of state, an MK judge Arief Hidayat stated on Friday.

Hidayat explained that it would be unethical for the court to summon Jokowi since his presidential position places him as one of the symbols of Indonesia that require utmost respect.

"(It is) because the president serves both as the head of state and head of government. If he only acts as the head of government, we would have summoned him to this hearing," he remarked at the MK Chamber in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara.

Hence, the MK has decided only to summon four ministers of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet in response to arguments made by the teams of presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs: Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.

"Therefore, we summoned his (Jokowi's) aides that are relevant to the arguments of the plaintiffs," Hidayat affirmed.

He further noted that the court did not have to take oaths of the four ministers at the start of the trial since they are still bound by their oaths of office.

"They did not have to swear because their oaths of office are still binding them since their appointment until this hearing," he pointed out.

The judge then said he viewed the 2024 presidential election as a more complicated election as compared to the 2014 and 2019 editions.

He attributed the complication to ethical violations committed by the MK and the General Elections Commission (KPU) as well as arguments of the plaintiffs regarding alleged partiality of the president, civil servants, security apparatus, and regional leaders.

In that regard, he said, the MK has summoned Human Development and Cultural Affairs Coordinating Minister Muhadjir Effendy, Economic Affairs Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, and Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini to testify on the allegations.