Chief Justice Anwar Usman opening the Technical Assistance for Regional Representatives Council (DPD) candidates, Monday (11/2) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua, Bogor. Photo by Humas MK/Nano.

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman reminded Regional Representatives Council (DPD) candidates who would be elected to carry out their obligation to achieve the mission of the regions they represented.

“That day will determine the future of the nation and state, including whether you, ladies and gentlemen, will receive mandate from God that you deserve to be representatives of your respective regions. You have extraordinary duties when you are elected, especially in regions that have large populations, especially in Java Island. You [will] have a heavy task to represent tens of millions of people,” Chief Justice Anwar Usman said during the opening of the Technical Assistance on the Procedure of the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution (PHPU) for DPD candidates and advocates all over Indonesia, Monday (11/2/2019) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua, Bogor.

Justice Anwar said that during the event, they will receive a lot of materials on the Constitutional Court procedure on the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution. “More importantly, you will receive materials from experts of the fields,” he said.

Justice Anwar also said that the Constitutional Court hoped that the results of the 2019 Elections, including the election of DPD members who will be determined by the General Election Commission (KPU), will be accepted by all Indonesian people. “We hope no case of the 2019 Elections will end up in the Constitutional Court,” he said before 250 participants.

However, he added, there could be objections from DPD members who were not elected. Therefore, the Court had prepared everything for everyone, including DPD candidates, the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) candidates, as well as presidential candidates who were not elected, by drafting the Court regulations, which was the manifestation of the mandate of Law No. 7 of 2017 on Elections.

“[If] it must happen, it means there is an objection or [the candidates] suing each other. Not to mention, the 2019 Simultaneous Elections are the most difficult one as long as the republic exists. Many things set the elections in Indonesia apart from that in other countries, given the population, islands, ethnicities, languages. Even the United States does not compare. It can be said that Indonesia is the largest democracy in the world,” he asserted.

Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah said that the Court’s success in handling the 2019 Election result dispute resolution was not only determined by the readiness of the Constitutional Court apparatus, but also by the knowledge and understanding of various elements of society that would participate in the hearing at the Court.

“[There is no exception], DPD members and advocates present this evening are also needed in facilitating the Court’s duties. With that framework, the Constitutional Court through the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center saw the need to hold the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution for political parties, KPU, the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), academia, election observers, and advocates who will counsel the parties in Court proceedings,” Guntur said.

Guntur added, the technical assistance on for DPD candidates and advocates all over Indonesia is the 19^th class of the technical assistance program that the Court had been carrying out since October 2018 to April 2019 prior to the 2019 Simultaneous Elections on April 17, 2019. “The technical assistance for DPD candidates from the Aceh Province specifically will be organized along with the local political parties in Banda Aceh in March 2019,” he said. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)