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Chief Justice Anwar Usman opening the Technical Assistance of the 2019 Legislative and Presidential/Vice Presidential Elections Results Dispute Settlement Case (PHPU) for the National Democrat Party (Nasdem), Monday (28/1) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua Bogor. Photo by Humas MK/Edoy.

The Constitutional Court held the Technical Assistance of the 2019 Legislative and Presidential/Vice Presidential Elections Results Dispute Resolution (PHPU) for the National Democrat Party (Nasdem), Monday (28/1/2019) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua Bogor.

"The 2019 elections are vastly different from the previous elections, as there will be 5 polling boxes. In the 2014 elections, the Nasdem Party first appeared with inadequate preparation, partly due to witness issue, but the Nasdem Party was able to appear in Senayan as a candidate. However, in 2019, it is not impossible that more candidates from the Nasdem Party will be present in Senayan," Justice Anwar said to 139 advocates of the Nasdem Party. 

He said that this technical guidance was expected to continue improving the understanding and preparedness of the administrators and members of political parties regarding the Procedure for the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution. 

"The more complete knowledge of the management and members of the Nasdem Party, especially the legislative candidates, the more ready they will be to fight for their rights in the 2019 Election Results Dispute Settlement," he said. 

Justice Anwar asserted that the success of elections rested not solely on the Constitutional Court, but also on relevant parties including political parties. Political parties are the pillars of democracy and are key players in the implementation of elections. 

"Political parties play a role in building democracy based on the law and in accordance with the principles in the Constitution and existing regulations," he said to the participants. 

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court M. Guntur Hamzah said that the 2019 Elections would be carried out simultaneously, referred to as the "Five-Box Elections." The Court as the guardian of democracy is also responsible for the success of the implementation of the 2019 Elections. 

"However, as a political judiciary institution, the Constitutional Court with its authorities cannot resolve further cases related to electoral violations due to criminal actions or other administrative matters because there are agencies or institutions that are given the authority to settle cases outside of disputes over election results. Therefore, efforts to maintain the democratic process must also involve other law enforcement agencies and all components of society, including political parties,” he said.

Guntur explained, full understanding of procedural law was needed for stakeholders. In addition, an understanding of the forms of electoral violations and the settlement process is also needed for all components of society, especially for state administrators, law enforcement officials, including election participants. 

"This is needed so that the judicial process that takes place at the Constitutional Court that upholds the speedy trial [principle] can truly be implemented by the Constitutional Court while maintaining substantive values for justice seekers," Guntur added. 

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Nasdem Central Executive Board for Legal Advocacy and Human Rights Taufik Basari said that the Technical Assistance on the Procedure for Settling the Case for the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution for the Nasdem Party was a very good lesson in anticipating the 2019 Elections. 

"Hopefully the knowledge we get will be very useful, not only for us who will [participate in] legislative election disputes, but also to ensure the implementation of democracy," Basari said. 

Basari continued, the Nasdem Party was a new political party that first took part in the elections in 2014. The Nasdem Party learned from the experience of participating in the 2014 elections, including in the election dispute process in the Constitutional Court. Nasdem has evaluated the implementation of the 2014 legislative election dispute. One of the important notes is the lack of evidence that Nasdem provided. Nasdem had not prepared witnesses properly. 

"In 2019 we have prepared the Nasdem Witness Commission since long ago because we are aware that it is one of the important things in guarding the votes during the legislative election. Now thank God, we are far more prepared than in the 2014 elections," Basari said. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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