Presidential Threshold Deemed Limiting Number of Presidential Candidates
Image

Chief Justice Anwar Usman, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, and Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh entering the panel courtroom for the preliminary judicial review hearing of the Law No. 7 of 2017 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors, Monday (1/24/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.


Monday, January 24, 2022 | 17:55 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Ahead of the 2024 General Elections, many material judicial review petition on the presidential threshold have been lodged to the Constitutional Court (MK). This time, ASN (state civil apparatus) Ikhwan Masyur Situmeang challenges Article 222 of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law), which he believes has limited the number of presidential candidates in the 2024 Elections.

Article 222 of the Election Law reads, “A presidential candidate ticket shall be nominated by a political party (or a coalition thereof) contesting in an election that has managed to win at least 20% (twenty percent) of DPR seats or 25% (twenty-five percent) of national valid votes in the previous election of members of the DPR.” In the petition No. 7/PUU-XX/2022, the Petitioner alleged that the article is against Article 6A paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution because the latter does not mention anything about percentage of the presidential threshold.

“Article 222 [of the Election Law] applies the presidential threshold which in fact limits the number of presidential candidates. As such, [it] is inconsistent with Article 6A of the 1945 Constitution, which does not state the percentage. [It is] open for political parties,” he said before the presiding justices Chief Justice Anwar Usman (panel chair) with Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh.

In the petition, the Petitioner also argued that Article 222 of the Election Law in fact restrict the people’s opportunity to assess future leaders from political parties contesting in the elections. He also asserted that the threshold could affect the future of democracy and that allowing it to continue would mean allowing the politics of oligarchs affect the nation.

Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Court annul Article 222 of the Election Law and declare it unconstitutional.

Justices’ Advice

Chief Justice Anwar observed that the petition had the same background as a few other petitions that the Court had ruled on.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat questioned the Petitioner’s status as employee in his KTP (resident ID card) and as ASN in the Secretariat-General of DPD (Regional Representatives Council) RI. He also revealed several similar cases that the Court had ruled on, especially with the legal standing as a citizen, which could change the Court’s stance. In a previous case, the Court ruled that those who could file a petition for the case are political parties, not individuals. Therefore, the Petitioner was expected to explain his legal standing in the case, so that the Court could change its stance on the issue, provided that there was a strong argument.

“The Court’s function is to make the 1945 Constitution a living constitution, so the Petitioner is expected to convince the Court by explaining various aspects comprehensively so that the Court changes its stance on this issue,” he said.

The Petitioner was given 14 workdays to revise the petition, which must be received by the Registrar’s Office by Monday, February 7, 2022.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Raisa Ayudhita
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 01/25/2022 09:37 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.


Monday, January 24, 2022 | 17:55 WIB 189