Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra reading out the verdict for case No. 50/PUU-XIX/2021 on the Election Law at a ruling hearing, Wednesday (10/27/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | 19:56 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) declared that after the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, the phrase “indigenous Indonesian nationals” in Article 26 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution remains unchanged. However, this requirement is no longer a requirement for president candidates, pursuant to Article 6 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution pre-amendment, which was then amended to read, “The prospective President and the prospective Vice President shall be Indonesian nationals since their birth and never accept another nationality at their own initiative, never betray the state, and be able to physically and spiritually implement the tasks and obligations as the President and Vice President.”

This was part of the Court’s legal consideration in Decision No. 50/PUU-XIX/2021 on the judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections and Law No. 12 of 2006 on the Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia, read out by Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra at a ruling hearing for case on Wednesday, October 27, 2021.

Justice Saldi further stated that the change in said requirement and the removal of the phrase “indigenous Indonesian nationals” indicates a fundamental change in the requirements for the president-vice president candidates. Despite the change, the requirements are not lax as Article 6 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution after the amendment added another requirement “shall be Indonesian nationals since their birth and never accept another nationality at their own initiative.”

If Article 169 letter b, Article 227 letter a, Article 229 paragraph (1) letter g of the Election Law and Article 2 of the Citizenship Law and its Elucidation were declared unconstitutional, Justice Saldi said, it would be against the principles of Paragraph I of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution and the protection as referred to in Article 28B paragraph (1), Article 28C paragraph (1), and Article 28D paragraph (2), Article 28I paragraphs (2) and (4), and Article 28J paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution.

“Therefore, the Petitioner’s petition concerning Article 169 letter b, Article 227 letter a, Article 229 paragraph (1) letter g of Law No. 7 of 2017 and Article 2 of Law No. 12 of 2006 and its Elucidation being unconstitutional was legally unwarranted,” Justice Saldi said.

Therefore, the Court passed a verdict to reject the petition. “[The Court] adjudicated, rejects the Petitioner’s petition in its entirety,” said Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

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The petitioner was filed by contract SMK (vocational school) teacher Herifuddin Daulay from Dumai. He argued that Article 169 letter b, Article 227 letter a, Article 229 paragraph (1) letter g of the Election Law and Article 2 of the Citizenship Law and its Elucidation were in violation of Paragraph I of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, Article 28B paragraph (1), Article 28C paragraph (1), and Article 28D paragraph (2), Article 28I paragraphs (2) and (4), and Article 28J paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution.

The Petitioner believed that Law No. 7 of 2017 that was in currently force to elect president-vice president had not reflected the basic provisions of the 1945 Constitution and had fatal mistakes that conflict with the 1945 Constitution as they could allow Indonesia to be ruled by other nations through an Indonesian citizen.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Muhammad Halim
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/28/2021 13:12 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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