---

Expert staff for law and national unity of the Ministry of Home Affairs Didik Suprayitno giving a statement in the judicial review hearing of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors on Tuesday (21/7) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—On behalf of the government, expert staff for law and national unity of the Ministry of Home Affairs Didik Suprayitno explained that, in principle, the legislative branch doesn’t have a bureaucratic network that can be utilized for winning a certain candidate and will not affect the exercise of legislative authority. According to him, the resignation of MPs (members of parliament) to run in the regional election is not a constitutionality issue but rather a matter of norm implementation.

"On that ground, the Petitioner in principle has recognized that the provision of the a quo article is an open legal policy," he said conveying the government’s statement in the judicial review hearing of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law) on the Plenary Courtroom. The hearing of case No. 22/PUU-XVIII/2020, presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman, had been scheduled to hear the government and the House, but the House was absent.

Didik said elections are the implementation of an indirect democratic system, where every Indonesian citizen has the right to participate in or contest in a regional election (pilkada) as long as they meet the conditions stipulated in Article 7 paragraph (1) of the Pilkada Law. The government believes that referring to the provision, members of the DPR (House of Representatives), DPD (Regional Representatives Council), and DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) can contest in the election. However, it can be interpreted that an MP who is appointed and trusted by the people represents the citizens who choose them until the end of their term of office. If they resign, their constituents lose their representative who accommodate and convey their aspirations.

The government is of the opinion that a legislative, executive, or judicial office is a mandate that one must carry out and account for until the end of the term. It is for the people and the people’s welfare. When one is unable to perform until the end of the term of office, their resignation is the people’s best choice.

"The Pilkada Law clearly states that prospective regional leaders must meet the requirement of resignation as a member of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD since [the moment] they are appointed as candidates for election," Didik explained. He added that pilkada is a democratic mechanism to determine regional heads who fight for the people’s interests. Efforts from all components of the nation are needed to maintain the quality of the regional election.

Also read:

Intending to Run for Office, House Members Challenge Provision on Resignation

Petitioners of Provision on Leave for MPs Revise Petition

The Petitioners challenge Article 7 paragraph (2) letter s of the Pilkada Law that stipulates that MPs resign to run for regional head election. The petition No. 22/PUU-XVIII/2020 was filed by House of Representatives (DPR RI) member Anwar Hafid (Petitioner I) and West Sumatra Provincial Representatives Council (DPRD) member Arkadius Dt. Intan Baso (Petitioner II). The provision reads, “Candidates Governor and Candidates for Vice Governor, Candidates for Regent and Vice Regent, and Candidates for Mayor and Vice Mayor, as stipulated in paragraph (1) must meet the following requirements: s. stating in writing resignation as a member of the House of Representatives, a member of the Regional Representatives Council, and a member of the Regional Legislative Council since declared as contesting candidates for regional elections.”

The Petitioners had previously argued that the norm contradicts the 1945 Constitution, in particular Article 7 paragraph (1), Article 28D paragraph (3), and Article 28H paragraph (2). They believe that conceptually, members of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD as well as regional heads are an integrated group of positions, or "political positions," so that MPs who wish to run for regional office should not need to resign from their positions. While they don’t resign, it is not guaranteed that they have a favorable position any more than other candidates or are able to use their position to win the election.

In order to ensure that the nomination of MPs in a regional office does not hinder the performance of legislative institutions, the resignation requirement can be applied only to the position of "apparatus of MP," without the need to relinquish the legislative office. Therefore, in their petitum, the Petitioners appealed to the Constitutional Court to declare Article 7 paragraph (2) letter f of the Pilkada Law unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Nur R.
PR: Fitri Y.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 7/22/2020 14:20 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case where any differences occur between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

---