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Chairman of UGM’s Center for Anti-corruption Studies Oce Madril delivering his expertise as an expert for Perludem virtually in the judicial review of the Pilkada Law, Monday (14/8) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The resignation requirement for DPR (House of Representatives), DPD (Regional Representatives Council), and DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) members to run in the regional head election in Article 7 paragraph (2) letter s of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors (Pilkada Law) doesn’t restrict anyone’s right to be elected, said Chairman of Center for Anti-corruption Studies of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Oce Madril at the material review hearing of the Pilkada Law held by the Constitutional Court on Monday, September 14, 2020. The hearing for case No. 22/PUU-XVIII/2020 was held virtually amid the newly-reimposed large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the Jakarta Special Capital Region per September 14.

Oce, who was presented by the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), the provision emerged because of the Constitutional Court Decision No. 33/PUU-XIII/2015, which required incumbent DPR, DPD, and DPRD members and regional heads to resign when running for an election.

“So, the decision was the lawmakers’ basis to formulate Article 7 paragraph (2) letter s of Law No. 10 of 2016. This provision actually doesn’t diminish a person’s right to participate in government. So, if we look at the provision of Article 7 paragraph 2 letter s, it doesn’t prevent someone from running [in election] because basically anyone can,” he said.

Oce believes Article 7 paragraph 2 letter s of the Pilkada Law regulates voluntary dismissal or that by law. “The provision [stipulates] that a DPR/DPRD member that runs in a local election must have decided to run in the election, so they resign voluntarily. So, this is a conscious choice actually because this mechanism is clear from the very beginning,” he explained.

He added that the resignation requirement for public offices is like that required of DPR, DPD, or DPRD members. It doesn’t apply only to members of parliament (MPs) but also for military (TNI) members, police officers, civil servants, and state- and/or regional government-owned enterprises (BUMN/BUMD). Thus, if the provision is declared not legally binding and unconstitutional, it will create discrimination as MPs will receive preferential treatment.

Political Equality

Perludem director Titi Anggraini as an expert for the Relevant Party said that the a quo provision must be interpreted as a legal construct for realizing democracy that guarantees political equality in the legal opinion of the Constitutional Court Decision No. 33/PUU-XIII/2015. She believes the equality is not only for military members, police officers, and state apparatuses, but also regional political offices.

She believes the provision can be found in Article 240 paragraph (1) letter k of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, which also requires regional heads and vice regional heads to resign when they run as provincial/regency/city MPs.

Also read:

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

Govt: MPs Must Resign to Run for Regional Election

House Stresses Distinction over Resignation Mechanism for Regional Election Contestants

House of Representatives (DPR RI) member Anwar Hafid (Petitioner I) and West Sumatra Provincial Representatives Council (DPRD) member Arkadius Dt. Intan Baso (Petitioner II) challenge Article 7 paragraph (2) letter s of the Pilkada Law on the resignation requirement for MPs to run in the local election. They believe that, conceptually, MPs and regional heads are an integrated group of positions, or "political positions," so MPs who wish to run for regional offices shouldn’t need to resign from their positions.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
PR: Fitri Yuliana
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 9/21/2020 10:45 WIB

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

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