Chief Justice Anwar Usman in the press conference on the 2019 Simultaneous Elections, Friday (8/2) at the Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

The Constitutional Court held a press conference on “Realizing Electoral Justice in the 2019 Simultaneous Elections” at the Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta, a visit to the newspaper “Kedaulatan Rakyat”, as well as a talk show on Jogja TV on Friday (8/2/2019).

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman in the press conference emphasized that the 2019 Simultaneous Elections is one of the most elaborated that Indonesia would have ever seen. “The 2019 Elections is the first simultaneous elections in Indonesia and it will be a challenge because there will be five ballot boxes,” he said.

The decision for simultaneous elections began with the Constitutional Court Decision No. 14/PUU-XI/2013, which granted the petition by the Coalition of Civil Society for Simultaneous Elections in 2013. At the time, the Constitutional Court repealed Article 3 paragraph (5), Article 12 paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 14 paragraph (2), and Article 112 of Law No. 42 of 2008 on the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election (Pilpres Law) that stipulated that pilpres shall be implemented within three months after pileg (legislative election). In other words, pileg and pilpres were not simultaneous.

Justice Anwar also explained that the Constitutional Court had not only been disseminating the electoral procedure, but also its process since October 2018 to March 2019. It is aimed at encouraging the awareness that the people can use their right to vote without any deception and money politics. In addition, the socialization is prioritized to emphasize the importance election with integrity.

He also emphasized that the socialization is targeted at all stakeholders—contesting political parties, electoral committees, advocates, the General Elections Commission (KPU), and the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu). “It is daunting yet exciting because in 2014, 900 cases [were registered]. Even though it was not simultaneous. What need to be noted are conflicts between parties and the votes of candidates in one political party. How chaotic will it be if it is not well-managed. So, the Constitutional Court socializes [the process] as a preventive measure,” he said.

During the question and answer session, Sasando FM journalists Jupiter asked about the Election Law, whose implementation is very complicated. "Is there any simpler way for the electoral system not to continuously change? The number of political parties is very high. The Court has the authority to resolve disputes and fix political parties. Please elaborate," he asked.

Justice Anwar replied that several laws were put together so there were many articles. It\'s complicated, but it must be sorted out. "No matter how good the law is, it depends on the election organizers, including other institutions related to the elections and the press that enlightens [the public]. Universities also have moral obligations," he replied.

He added, the Election Law must lead to the principle of direct, public, free, confidential, honest, fair elections so that all institutions related to the elections must provide hope and justice for the public. The elections are expected to have integrity, especially as the state has incurred enormous costs and resources. One reason for the simultaneous elections is budget efficiency.

At the end of the press conference, Justice Anwar thanked the press for their participation in ensuring elections with integrity without money politics, pressure, and fraud from the organizers so that trust in the election results would be high. The Court also thanked the Islamic University of Indonesia for initiating the event with the aim of realizing elections with integrity. The hope is that the results of the pileg and pilres will not be disputed. (Bayu/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)