Jakarta. The Honor Council of the Constitutional Court made the decision Tuesday to remove Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who is also the brother-in-law of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, from his position. This decision follows a controversial ruling regarding the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

The ruling amended the minimum age of 40 years, opening the door to Jokowi’s 36-year-old son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to run as vice-presidential candidate in the upcoming February election.

However, the council's decision did not impact the ruling, and Gibran remains a valid candidate.

Anwar was found guilty of a "serious breach of ethics and good conduct as a Constitutional Court judge" and "violating the principles of impartiality, integrity, competence, equality, independence, and decorum" of the court, according to Honor Council Chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie, who announced the verdict in Jakarta.

Additionally, the council has instructed the court to appoint a new chief justice within the next two days.

Jimly added, "The accused judge is disqualified from nominating himself for the chief justice position until his term as a judge expires."

Furthermore, Anwar is prohibited from handling disputes related to legislative and presidential elections when a potential conflict of interest exists.

In the verdict, Jimly revealed that Anwar had permitted "external parties' interference" during the decision-making process related to the controversial ruling.

On October 16, the Constitutional Court's nine justices voted 5 to 4 in favor of amending the age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 2017 law on general elections.

The revised version of the relevant article now stipulates that a presidential or vice-presidential candidate "must be at least 40 years old or must have served or be serving in a public position through general elections, including regional government leader elections."

Following the amendment, Gibran, who is the elected mayor of Solo, became eligible to run in the election. Subsequently, he was selected as the running mate for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

The Honor Council also reprimanded six other justices for ethical violations. They are Enny Nurbaningsih, Manahan MP Sitompul, Suhartoyo, Daniel Yusmic, Guntur Hamzah, and Wahiduddin Adams.

However, Jimly clarified that the council does not have the authority to overturn the ruling. Its role is primarily limited to addressing ethical matters and suspected misconduct by judges.

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