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Plenary hearing to listen to the Government’s statement in the judicial review hearing of the Election Law, Thursday (11/4) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The third judicial review hearing of Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections was held by the Constitutional Court (MK) on Thursday (11/4/2019). The hearing for cases No. 24/PUU-XVII/2019 and 25/PUU-XVII/2019 was to listen to the Government’s statement delivered by Director of Litigation of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Ardiansyah.

The Government is of the opinion that the regulation of the prohibition on the announcement of election survey or quick count results during election silence is intended not to restrict the information on the electability of election contestants. The regulation is done so that general elections can run well and, in the end, achieve the election principles of as determined by the Constitution. 

"Announcement of the results of election quick count is done at the earliest 2 hours after voting in the western parts of Indonesia has concluded. The regulation was done because of time differences between the western, central, and eastern parts of Indonesia, so the elections do not finish concurrently. "It is expected that with this regulation, quick count results that are announced will be more accurate because the electoral process in all regions has been completed," Ardiansyah explained. 

Thus, according to the Government, surveys by survey institutions during election silence can disrupt public order and are therefore relevant if all parties committing electoral violations are given criminal sanctions as stipulated in the provisions of Articles 488 to Article 554 of the Election Law. 

"According to the Government, the provision has provided legal certainty and fair treatment of the implementation of general elections as a whole and hence the a quo provision has been in line with the constitutional mandate. In other words, the provision petitioned for review is only concerned with [time] and is not related to the [constitutionality] of the a quo law," said Ardiansyah. 

Petition No. 24/PUU-XVII/2019 was filed by the Indonesian Association for Public Opinion Research (AROPI) represented by Chairman Sunarto. The Petitioner felt disadvantaged by the enactment of Article 449 paragraphs (2), (5), and (6), Article 509, and Article 540 of the Election Law. According to the Petitioner, the revival of the phrase “prohibiting the announcement of the results of electoral surveys or polls during the election silence” and “the announcement of the prediction of results of electoral quick count can only be done no later than two hours after the vote in the western part of Indonesia” along with the criminal provision in the Election Law means that lawmakers have defied the constitutional order and violated the provision of Article 6 paragraph (1) letter (i) of Law Number 12 of 2011 on the Establishment of Legislation, which regulates the principles of good legislation, that is, the principles of legal order and legal certainty.         

The Petitioner has in fact institutionally prepared all resources to participate in "developing the nation\'s intellectual life" through research or surveys and published them. However, the Petitioner\'s efforts are potentially limited or even eliminated by the enactment of the a quo articles although all norms of the articles challenged in the petition have been declared unconstitutional by the Court through three decisions, Decision Number 9/PUU-VII/2009 on March 30, 2009, juncto Decision Number 98/PUU-VII/2009 on July 3, 2009, juncto Decision Number 24/PUU-XII/2014 on April 3, 2014. 

Case 25/PUU-XVII/2019 was petitioned by PT Televisi Transformasi Indonesia, PT Media Televisi Indonesia, PT Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia, PT Lativi Mediakarya, PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri, PT Indikator Politik Indonesia, and PT Cyrus Nusantara. The Petitioners challenged articles similar to the previous case—Article 449 paragraphs (2), (5), and (6), Article 509, and Article 540 paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Election Law. 

The Petitioners explained that delaying announcement of quick count results could potentially lead to uncontrolled speculation surrounding the election results. Moreover this year\'s elections are the first simultaneous presidential and legislative elections in Indonesian history. Voters must be very enthusiastic to get information about the election results immediately. 

According to the Petitioners, the time limitation with the threat of criminal charges over quick counts as stipulated in the articles actually has the potential to cause hoaxes on election results. This, according to the Petitioners, will increase the burden of the implementation of the elections for election administrators and law enforcement officials, and can make it difficult to achieve elections that are peaceful, orderly, fair, transparent, and democratic. 

Before closing the session, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman requested that the parties submit conclusions the following day on Friday (12/4/2019). The next session has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, 2019 to read out the ruling. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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