Effendi Gazali as Petitioner being interviewed by electronic media after revision hearing of the judicial review of the Election Law on Monday (23/7) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.

The revision hearing for judicial review of Law No. 7/2017 on General Elections was held by the Constitutional Court (MK) on Monday (23/7).  The case registered under No. 54/PUU-XVI/2018 was filed by Effendi Gazali and Reza Indragiri Amriel. 

Political communication expert Effendi Gazali conveyed the petition revision in person, including the legal standing and constitutional impairment suffered. He explained the difference of his petition from previous petitions that had been decided by the Constitutional Court. He said that if the Constitutional Court rejected the judicial review of Article 222 of the Election Law as an open legal policy that can be created by lawmakers, the Petitioners accepted Article 222 of the Election Law as an open legal policy that can be created by lawmakers. However, he continued, the 2014 Legislative Elections result which has a special position concerning the power of lawmakers cannot be altered without the voters\' consent. 

"So, it means that our different position is that we accept the open legal policy of lawmakers as had been decided by the Constitutional Court in judicial reviews on the presidential threshold, despite some dissenting opinions," he explained. 

Furthermore, in relation to the suggestion that specifically led to matrix of reasons for reference of the review or new approaches, Effendi had created it. "Although there is always a matrix or model, it will certainly have some weaknesses and leaves some parts, because of the inability to describe [the issue] clearly and completely," said Effendi before the Panel of Justices led by Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra. 

Effendi Gazali and Reza Indragiri Amriel requested a material review of Article 222 of Law No. 7/2017 that reads, "A Candidate Pair is nominated by a Political Party or a Coalition of Political Parties Contender of the Elections, who fulfills the seat requirement of at least 20% (twenty percent) of the total seats of the House of Representatives or who receives 25% (twenty-five percent) of the national valid votes in the previous election of the House of Representatives members." 

Effendi argued that Article 222 of the Election Law, even if formed on the basis of an open legal policy, will not bring any constitutional impairment to any citizen, if declared by the Constitutional Court to take effect in the simultaneous Elections of the President and the House of Representatives in 2024 or five years to come. This is because since the Election Law was declared effective August 16, 2017, the public were already aware and considered so, that when exercising their right to vote for the 2019 parliamentary elections, he added, it will be counted as part of the threshold for the proposal of the presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs (presidential threshold) by political parties or political coalitions participating in General Elections in 2024.

However, Effendi said, if Article 222 of the Election Law applied to the 2019 General Elections of the President and House of Representatives, it would deceive citizens and manipulate the result of citizens’ right to vote in the 2014 General Elections of House of Representatives. That is because before until after all citizens had used their right to vote for the 2014 General Elections of the House of Representatives, they were never once provided with any information on their rights and obligations by any law or regulation, especially by the existing law in the past, that is, Law No. 42/2008 on the General Elections of President and Vice President or Law No. 8/2012 on the Election of Members of DPR, DPD, and DPRD. It would also be counted as part of the threshold requirement for the nomination of presidential and vice presidential candidates by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the 2019 General Elections. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)