ALSA UNDIP Visits Constitutional Court to Learn about Elections
Image


Constitutional Court researcher Irfan Nurachman speaking before the Asian Law Students Association of Diponegoro University (ALSA UNDIP) of Semarang, Monday (19/8) at the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Students from the Asian Law Students Association of Diponegoro University (ALSA UNDIP) of Semarang visited the Constitutional Court on Monday (19/8/2019). They were welcomed by Constitutional Court researcher Irfan Nurachman at the Delegation Room. Irfan explained about general elections (pemilu).

"It turns out that general elections in Indonesia are truly extraordinary. Electoral legal instruments in Indonesia are very complete. Speaking of comparative studies with countries of democracy, such as Austria and Germany, it turns out that their electoral legal instruments are not as complete as those in Indonesia," explained Irfan to 56 UNDIP students. 

Irfan said, even the Constitutional Court in a number of countries made legal breakthroughs because the electoral legal instruments were not as complete as in Indonesia. "Our experience in holding simultaneous elections this year, [as well as] direct elections since the Reformation, has made us more mature in democracy. We have international recognition that the democratic process in Indonesia is going well. One of the benchmarks of the implementation of good democracy [is] when the succession of a government is carried out by the electoral mechanism," said Irfan. 

"You can imagine, simultaneous elections in the form of presidential and legislative elections are held in one day. In 2024, it will not only be presidential and legislative elections, but also regional elections will be held simultaneously," Irfan added. 

Simultaneous elections, Irfan added, were an extraordinary test for the Constitutional Court because it was the first time that the Court handled simultaneous elections disputes. As there were only two presidential candidates, then the community was divided into two camps. 

"Not only were the presidential candidates in dispute, but their supporters also were in dispute. This was a serious threat to democracy. It turned out, Alhamdulillah (thank God), after a petition at the Court, the Court then decided the election dispute cases and all parties agreed to forget all the problems in the elections," explained Irfan. 

During the visit, Irfan explained the history of the Constitutional Court in Indonesia, starting from the amendment of the 1945 Constitution in four stages, from 1999 to 2002. The amendment to the 1945 Constitution includes amending the multi-interpretive article on the term of office of the president. Before the 1945 Constitution was amended, after five years in office, the president could be re-elected continuously more than three terms. However, after the amendment, the president’s term of office is no longer than 10 years, or two terms.

In addition, the amendment to the 1945 Constitution brought major changes to state institutions in Indonesia. The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) is no longer the highest state institution, but its position is equal to other state institutions such as the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the House of Representatives, the president, etc. 

The Constitutional Court was then established on August 13, 2003 along with Law No. 24/2003 concerning the Constitutional Court. Article 24C paragraphs (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution stated that the authority of the Constitutional Court is to review the law against the Constitution. The purpose of the judicial review is to protect the rights of citizens from harm cause by laws, whether the law contradicts the Constitution or not.

Other authorities are deciding on authority dispute among state institutions whose authorities are granted by the Constitution, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over election results. The Court is also obligated to decide on the House’s opinion on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti


Monday, August 19, 2019 | 18:02 WIB 223