Constitutional Court Chief Hopes Two Justices will be Elected Soon

Jakarta (Antara) - Constitutional Court chairman Hamdan Zoelva has expressed hope that the selecting team will soon choose two justices to replace Akil Mochtar and Harjono who will retire early next month. "We hope the two vacant posts of constitutional court justices will be filled soon. Otherwise, the Constitutional Court will find it hard to perform its duties," he said here on Wednesday. Under the law, the minimum number of constitutional court justices who can decide a case must be seven, he added. "If two of them are absent and another one is sick, the constitutional court can do nothing," he said. He expressed hope that the selecting team will soon choose replacements for the two justices who will soon retire, in the face of election disputes this year. "Of course, we need the justices soon since they have to adjust to the mechanism of deciding cases at the constitutional court," he said. Hamdan noted that the process of selecting the justices will be left to the House of Representatives and the eight-member expert team tasked with selecting them. He also said the constitutional court will not appoint justices who do not meet the qualifications set for them. Member of the House of Representatives' Commission III, Bambang Soesatyo, said he is disappointed with all the Constitutional Court justice candidates as none of them meets the specified qualifications, here on Tuesday. "Honestly speaking, the Commission III is disappointed as we have not found any candidate capable of representing the DPR in the MK (the Constitutional Court). The candidate should at least be as qualified as (former constitutional court chief justice) Mahfud MD," he said. (*) Reporting by Joko Susilo