Head of the Center for Information Technology Budi Achmad Djohari opening the Technical Assistance Program on the Procedural Law of the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution for Aceh local political parties on Monday (18/3) in Aceh. Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

ACEH, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court organized the Technical Assistance Program on the Procedural Law of the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution on Monday–Wednesday (18-20/3/2019) for 122 participants from Aceh local parties, Aceh Province DPD candidates, and the academic community of Aceh.

Head of the Center for Information Technology Budi Achmad Djohari, in his opening address, said that April 17, 2019 will be a new chapter for Indonesia in terms of elections. Over 187 million voters will vote for legislative and presidential candidates simultaneously for the first time. As the upcoming elections will be simultaneous, unlike previous elections, there will be differences in the number of parties, vote count methods, etc.

The simultaneous elections are the result of Constitutional Decision No. 14/PUU-XI/2013 on January 23, 2014. During the voting, voters will vote on five ballots for members of district/municipal and provincial DPRD (Regional Legislative Council), DPR (House of Representatives), and DPD (Regional Representatives Council), as well as president and vice president.

Budi observed the phenomenon of hoaxes and hate speech ahead of the 2019 Elections. This does not only occur in Indonesia. “This will create heated atmosphere; spread of hoaxes and hate speech in social media. This is because, essentially, elections in Indonesia are like that of the United States,” he said. However, Aceh election is different from other regions in that having local parties has led to mutual commitment and consistence in creating conducive atmosphere. 2019 Elections in Aceh do not overlook norms, Islamic values, and local wisdom of Aceh society. “[The Elections] in Aceh are safe as they are built upon the Islamic foundation. The concept of safe elections in Aceh shall be spread to other regions. So, we can be optimistic that Indonesia can guard the democracy,” Budi said.

Aceh local party leaders represented by Secretary General of the Central Executive Board of SIRA Party Muhammad Daud appreciated the technical assistance program organized by the Constitutional Court, especially for Aceh local parties. He said that 2019 election disputes will increase from the previous in 2014 because this year’s elections will be simultaneous and the candidates are higher in number. He hoped this would not be a burden for the Court.

Socialization of Technical Issues

Court researcher Luthfi Widagdo gave technical explanation on e-mail for future litigants. As the Constitutional Court has prepared technology to facilitate public access to information on the court proceedings, “Whoever will litigate at the Court, from petitioners to relevant parties, shall have an e-mail. In addition, please be updated on the information on the Court’s website as all documents will be uploaded on the website for public,” he said in the presence of Head of General Bureau Imam Margono.

The program implements the Court’s mission to improve constitutional understanding of citizens. Petitioners and all other stakeholders must understand the election results dispute resolution process in the Constitutional Court. Participants will also practice drafting the Petitioner’s petition and the statement of the Relevant Party in the 2019 Election Results Dispute Resolution. (Bayu/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)