The judicial review 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), Wednesday (2/9/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

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Wednesday, February 9, 2022 | 14:05 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held the preliminary hearing for the judicial review 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 Wednesday, February 9, 2022. The case No. 15/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by Dewi Nandya Maharani, Suzie Alancy Firman, Moh. Sidik, Rahmatulloh, and M. Syaiful Jihad. They asserted that Article 201 paragraphs (10) and (11) of the Pilkada Law is in violation of Article 1 paragraph (2), Article 18 paragraph (4), Article 27 paragraph (1), and Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

Article 201 paragraph (10) reads, “In order to fill the vacant position of the Governor, an interim Governor shall be appointed from intermediate high leadership positions until the inauguration of the Governor in accordance with the provisions of the legislation.” Article 201 paragraph (11) reads, “In order to fill the vacant position of the Regent/Mayor, an interim Regent/Mayor shall be appointed from first high leadership positions until the inauguration of the Regent and Mayor in accordance the provisions of the legislation.”

The Petitioners’ legal counsel Sulistyowati stated that due to the Pilkada Law, the Petitioners had lost their opportunity to elect regional heads who were expected to could realize people’s welfare, as they were forced to accept known known interim regional heads. Through a campaign, regional head candidates are expected to describe their visions and missions if elected and to realize work programs, of which performances can be monitored through existing mechanisms. Meanwhile, appointed officials would lead to visions and missions of which accountability to the community is questionable.

“Government-appointed interim governor/regent/mayor does not reflect public interest and impartiality. This means that the government is no longer acting wisely for public interest because it has impaired those elected by the people as leaders of their respective regions,” Sulistyowati said before Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto (panel chair), Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul, and Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih.

Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 201 paragraph (10) of the Pilkada Law unconstitutional and not legally binding insofar as not interpreted to mean ‘regional heads are elected through the process of the direct, democratic election of regional heads.’

Following Procedural Law

Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul advised that the Petitioners study the format of a judicial review petition since the petition was lengthy and there could be repetitions. They were to observe the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 2 of 2021 in revising the petition to follow the Court’s procedural law. “In relation to the articles petitioned, the Petitioners should observe similar petitions filed to the Court so that [they] can see different in focus with those of previous petitions,” he said to the Petitioners, who appeared before the Court virtually.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih recommended that the Petitioners elaborate their legal standing one by one, especially as one of them reside in Jakarta. She also requested that they make an inventory of similar petitions and elaborate how they meet the requirements for constitutional impairment.

Last, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto explained to the Petitioners that their legal standing was still ambiguous and must be clarified. They initially asserted that their rights had been impaired and that a pilkada should have taken place in 2022. However, they also asserted that they couldn’t vote because interim officials had been appointed.

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

Translation uploaded on 2/9/2022 15:01 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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