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Indrawan Susilo Prabowoadi on behalf of the Principal Petitioners delivering the subjects of the judicial review petition of the Pilkada Law (11/3) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) held a judicial review hearing of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of the Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors (Pilkada) on Wednesday (11/3/2020) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court.

The case No. 18/PUU-XVIII/2020 was petitioned by four Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) members of Karimun Regency, Riau Islands Province of 2018–2023, Tiuridah Silitonga (Petitioner I), Indrawan Susilo Prabowoadi (Petitioner II), Nurhidayat (Petitioner III), and Mohammad Fadli (Petitioner IV). In the petition, the Petitioners argue that Article 134 paragraphs (4), (5), and six and Article 143 paragraph (2) of the Pilkada Law are against the 1945 Constitution.

Article 134 paragraphs (4) reads, “A report on electoral violations as referred to in paragraph (2) shall be submitted at the latest 7 (seven) days after the electoral violations in question are ascertained and/or discovered.” The word “days” is defined as calendar days following the provision of Article 1 number 28 of the Pilkada Law. The Petitioners believe that the definition of the word “days” and the difference of the deadline of follow-up on electoral violations between the Pilkada Law and the Election Law cause problems in the law enforcement.

“The difference of the deadline of follow-up on electoral violations between the Pilkada Law and the Election Law is very significant and potentially reduces quality of management, which might lead to the expiry and decline of public trust on Bawaslu’s performance,” Tiuridah said in the hearing presided over by Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra, along with Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh.

The use of calendar days does not consider the geographical factor of expansive Indonesia, especially regencies in Riau Islands. Access to most sub-districts in Riau Islands is via sea transportation.

“So, the word “days” in the a quo provision is deemed short, thus potentially expires with regard to the reporting of violations and dispute settlement not being able to be carried out comprehensively and more optimally, which would lead to the decline of quality of dispute settlement,” Indrawan added, reading out the subjects of the Petitioners’ petition.

Scheduling Diagram

Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat recommended that the Petitioners make a scheduling diagram to compare the effect of work days and calendar days on Bwaslu’s performance in settling regional head election disputes.

“This is important as a clear reference for the constitutional justices’ consideration when deciding on the a quo case,” Arief suggested. 

Empirical Evidence

Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra requested that the Petitioners learn past petitions in relation to the Petitioners’ request so that their petition be elaborated clearly and logically. He also requested that the Petitioners explain their argument regarding the time stipulated in the law that they deem insufficient.

“There is not yet empirical evidence that how many days are insufficient. This is important that the election results are not clear, but the certainty of its stages must be maintained. So, elaborate on the impacts of this [petition] on the stages of the election [dispute] settlement,” Justice Saldi said.

Justice Saldi also observed that the Petitioners needed to provide a strong argument on the articles of the 1945 Constitution they include, so that the relation between the violated rights and the enactment of the Pilkada Law is clearly seen.

Before concluding the session, Justice Saldi reminded the Petitioners to revise the petition and submit the petition revision by Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 13:00 WIB to the Registrar’s Office. (Sri Pujianti/ASF/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

Translation uploaded on

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