The Comeback Trail: Anwar Usman Attempt to Reclaim MK Leadership

The State Administrative Court of Jakarta (PTUN Jakarta) has rejected the intervention request from constitutional law expert Denny Indrayana, the Nusantara Advocates Movement (Pergerakan Advokat Nusantara/Perekat Nusantara), and the Indonesian Democracy Defense Team (TPDI) to become "Co-Defendants" in the lawsuit filed by former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman. The rejection of the intervention request in case number 604/G/2023/PTUN.JKT was delivered in an interim decision on Jan 31, 2023.

Anwar Usman filed a lawsuit with PTUN to annul Constitutional Court Decision No. 17/2023. This decision appointed Suhartoyo as the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, replacing Anwar, who was convicted of ethical violations when deciding on the minimum age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The age limit decision paved the way for Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who happens to be his nephew.

In response to this lawsuit, Denny Indrayana, Perekat Nusantara, and TPDI filed an intervention request to be positioned as Co-Defendants, enabling them to counter Anwar Usman's lawsuit. "As the party who first reported Uncle Usman's conflict of interest regarding Gibran, I have a direct interest in ensuring that Anwar Usman's lawsuit at PTUN is unsuccessful, in other words, not accepted," Denny said in early December last year.

Following the rejection from PTUN, Petrus Selestinus, the Coordinator of TPDI and Perekat Nusantara, stated that the judges rejected the intervention request because they deemed it unnecessary to involve other parties in the case. "The rejection of the intervention is not due to objections from Anwar Usman but solely based on the judges' considerations," Petrus said on Feb 15. Petrus expressed disappointment with the rejection because, as Denny mentioned, they have been monitoring the ethical violations by Anwar Usman from the beginning.