October 28, 2013 · 14:24

Simon Butt on MK Elections Jurisprudence (Indonesia)

The Centre for Democratic Institutions commissioned Prof. Simon Butt, probably the foremost Western expert on Indonesia’s Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) jurisprudence, to assess the MK’s handling of local elections cases in this report. In particular, Butt worries that the court had not adequately defined its standard for overturning an election (a “structured, systematic, and massive” breach) and does not rigorously evaluate evidence.

This report was published in March, so long before Akil-gate, but it still provides invaluable to the MK’s elections cases and some of the problems that plagued the system even before this October. One has to wonder now how much of the MK’s fuzziness on these matters was deliberate.

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Filed under elections, indonesia, Mahkamah Konstitusi, Simon Butt

October 28, 2013 · 13:48

$8.9 million (Indonesia)

The Akil-gate scandal involving former Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar just became an order of magnitude more serious as the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) found US $8.9 (Rp. 100 billion) in wire transfers in Akil’s account. According to The Jakarta Post, there are now suspicions that Akil was engaged in money laundering and that corruption might have tainted many more elections cases. Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch is calling for a more exhaustive probe into Akil’s wealth.

What’s particularly worrying about all of these reservations is that it becomes much harder for the Constitutional Court as a whole to plausibly deny and knowledge of Akil’s activities. A single bribe can be hidden quite easily, but it appears that Akil’s activities likely generated a completely different lifestyle for the former chief justice. Why did his activities and behavior not raise suspicions earlier? I suspect Indonesians will increasingly be asking themselves those questions.

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Filed under Akil Mochtar, corruption, indonesia, Mahkamah Konstitusi

October 25, 2013 · 11:35

Shwe Mann supports opponent for president (Myanmar/Burma

Well, from a certain point of view. According to The Irrawaddy, Speaker Thura Shwe Mann has announced that he supports changing § 59F of the 2008 Constitution to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to be a candidate for president. Oddly enough, Shwe Mann himself also wants that job. Could this be an attempt by Shwe Mann to keep his hands clean in case the constitutional reforms do not allow his greatest potential challenger to complete in 2015?

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Filed under Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Myanmar, president

October 22, 2013 · 14:24

Shariah in Brunei (Brunei Darussalam)

This is the first time Brunei Darussalam has made it into a post of Rule by Hukum (a dubious honor to be sure). According to Reuters, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has stated that the country would enforce shariah criminal law. Shariah law famously includes harsh punishments, including stoning for adultery, but in theory these are balanced by the high burden of proof and significant discretion given to judges. The version of shariah implemented in Brunei will be much stricter than anything currently in force in Malaysia or Indonesia, so Brunei will likely bear closer scrutiny from human rights advocates and lawyers from now on (including Rule by Hukum).

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Filed under Brunei, criminal procedure, Islam, religion

October 22, 2013 · 10:22

Backpedaling on Allah (Malaysia)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that a Malaysian High Court ruled that only Muslims could use the word “Allah” to describe God. Now, it seems, the government of Malaysia is engaging in damage control to mitigate the fallout of the decision. According to BBC, Prime Minister Najib has stated that christians in states of Sabah and Sarawak could continue to use the word “Allah”, particularly in bibles in the Malay language (coincidentally, parties from Sabah and Sarawak form a key part of the Barisan Nasional coalition). In essence, it appears Najib is attempting to add footnotes to the court’s decision after it has already been published. Given that courts in Malaysia are not entirely free from government influence, it will be interesting to see if his comments have any effect on future rulings on the issue.

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Filed under Malaysia, religion