The panel of constitutional justices examining the petition revision at the judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on political party verification for the case No. 48/PUU-XIX/2021, Tuesday (10/4/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham W.M.

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Tuesday, October 5, 2021 | 21:09 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The petition revision hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections was held by the Constitutional Court (MK) on Tuesday, October 5, 2021. The panel hearing for case No. 48/PUU-XIX/2021 was presided over by Constitutional Justices Saldi Isra (chair), Suhartoyo, and Wahiduddin Adams.

Counsels Yusril Ihza Mahendra and colleagues represented the Petitioners in conveying the revisions to the petition. Initially, the Petitioners were four parties—the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Beringin Karya (Berkarya) Party, the United Indonesia (Perindo) Party, and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). In the revised petition, only three remains: the Berkarya Party, the Perindo Party, and PSI. Yusril Ihza Mahendra (PBB) will only serve as a legal counsel.

The Petitioners also elaborated each of their legal standing by attaching each party’s statute/bylaw. The touchstone, initially only Article 22E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution, would now be Article 22E paragraphs (1) and (3). The Petitioners also explained that the a quo petition is not ne bis in idem with past petitions on the same law.

Also read: PBB, Berkarya, Perindo, PSI Challenge Provision on Party Verification

The Petitioners have passed the verification process and declared as contestants in the 2019 Election but did not pass the parliamentary threshold stipulated in Article 414 paragraph (1) of the Election Law, which is 4% of the total national valid votes, to compete for the House of Representatives (DPR) seats.

They have been very disadvantaged by the enactment of Article 173 paragraph (1) of the Election Law, which imposes an obligation on the Petitioners to continuously carry out administrative and factual verifications whenever participating in an election. If they do not have sufficient capacity for such a cost-and energy-consuming obligation, they will be automatically prevented from using their political right to participate in the election.

The Petitioners argue that administrative and factual verifications are a technical and procedural aspect to ensure that political parties participating in the election meet the qualifications determined by laws and regulations. This process is acceptable to apply to new political parties because their participation in elections must be checked to ensure their accountability and capability to facilitate the implementation of popular sovereignty through elections.

“However, for political parties that have participated in elections, whose qualifications have been tested because they have passed [requirements] and are allowed to take part in elections, administrative and factual re-verifications are irrelevant. This is because such political parties have passed administrative and factual verifications before participating in the previous general election. Its position is different from that of a political party that has just been established and has never participated in an election. Political parties that have participated in elections have proven their work and have carried out their functions as media for the people to exercise sovereignty according to the Constitution. Therefore, the votes obtained by political parties in the previous election, even if minimal and failed to meet the 4% parliamentary threshold, should not be ignored because [they] are a tangible manifestation of the people’s sovereignty implemented according to the Constitution,” Yusril Ihza Mahendra said at the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

In the petitum, the Petitioners are requesting that Article 173 paragraph (1) of the Election Law not be interpreted as “A Political Party that has passed the 2019 Election verification and passed/fulfilled the Parliamentary Threshold in the 2019 Election shall not undergo administrative and factual re-verification; a political party that has passed the 2019 Election verification but did not pass/fulfill the parliamentary threshold, that only has representation at the provincial/regency/city DPRD, and that does not have representation at the provincial/regency/city DPRD must undergo only administrative re-verifications; a political party that has not participate in the election shall undergo administrative and factual verification.”

Writer        : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Fitri Yuliana
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/6/2021 09:09 WIB

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

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