Mohammad Mahfud

Mohammad Mahfud MD (born Mohammad Mahfud; 13 May 1957), commonly

known as Mahfud MD, is an Indonesian politician and lawyer. He is
of Madurese descent, born in Sampang, a regency on Madura Island. He was the
chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, member of the People's
Representative Council (DPR) of National Awakening Party and also was the
Minister of Defense and Minister of Justice and Human Rights under
the Wahid Presidency. He completed his five-year term as chief justice back in April
2013 and has announced that he will not seek reelection as chief justice. The end of
Mahfud's time as chief justice was subsequently followed by intention to run for the
presidential seat in 2014, which was eventually won by former Governor of
Jakarta, Joko Widodo.
Mahfud holds a master's degree in political science and a doctorate in
constitutional law (1993) from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Since 1984,
he has also been a professor of constitutional law at the faculty of law at the Islamic
University of Indonesia (UII) in Yogyakarta. He has also taught in a number of other
universities in Indonesia.
Mahfud was appointed as Minister of Defense by President Abdurrahman
Wahid on 23 August 2000. The appointment of Mahfud as the Minister of Defense
caused controversy, after being rumored that the appointment was disagreed by vice
president Megawati Sukarnoputri, although Mahfud later admitted that he met
Megawati in personal, and confirmed that she didn't have any problems with his
appointment. Following a cabinet reshuffle on 20 July 2001, Mahfud moved from the
defense portfolio and was appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights. He held
office briefly until Wahid's impeachment by the People's Consultative Assembly a
few days later and the Mutual Assistance Cabinet's formation.

In 2004, Mahfud became one of the National Awakening Party's nominees for
the 2004 parliament election. He was successful in the elections and become a
member of the People's Representative Council (DPR) for the term of 2004–2009.
He sat on a number of parliamentary commissions
during his term in parliament.

In 2008, Mahfud selected as one of the

constitutional judges. In the Indonesian
Constitutional Court election for chief justice, he
narrowly defeated the incumbent Jimly Asshiddiqie
to become the second chief justice of the court. He
ultimately resigned from parliament upon taking
office. He served in the position until his term
ended in April 2013.
Mahfud attracted considerable publicity
during his period at the court. The court is regarded
as having made some progressive decisions and transformed the Constitutional
Court being free of corruption during his time as chief justice but has also issued
some surprising decisions such as an unexpected ruling in late 2012 that the

1
existence of the upstream oil and gas regulatory agency BPMigas was
unconstitutional.
Mahfud has been married to Zaizatun Nihayati (Yatie) since 1982. The couple
has three children, Ikhwan Zein, Vina Amalia, and Royhan Akbar. Mahfud is well
known as a commentator and public speaker. He often comments on issues
concerning human rights in Indonesia. His comments, for example about the rights of
atheists and communists under Indonesian law caused a fuss in mid-2012 when he
said people could only be punished for being atheists or communists if they behaved
in a way that breached the national ideology of Pancasila. More recently, in
September 2012 he was critical of a proposal from the National Counterterrorist
Agency to certify Islamic clerics and scholars as a way of minimising the risk of
radicalism.
Towards the end of 2012 there was increased speculation about the
possibility that Mahfud would become a candidate in the 2014 presidential elections
in Indonesia. Several polls indicated high support for Mahfud amongst some groups
of voters. In November 2012 he stood for, and was elected to, the position of chair of
the Islamic Students Alumni Association (KAHMI), an influential Moslem
organisation. His decision to successfully seek election as the chair of KAHMI, and
being selected ahead of other well-known politicians such as Anas Urbaningrum,
was seen as boosting his credibility as a potential presidential candidate.
At the first edition of Seputar Indonesia Awards by RCTI, year 2011, Mahfud
MD was named as the newsmaker of the year, beating US President Barack
Obama and World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati. That’s way I
choose Mahfud MD is one of man who inspire my life. I like his personality.

Ashar Zamzami

0520180006