Preliminary hearing of the material judicial review of the Pilkada Law for a case filed by North Halmahera regent Frans Manery and vice regent Muchlis Tapi Tapi, Tuesday (3/8/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

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Tuesday, March 8, 2022 | 19:06 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held a material judicial review of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law) for a case filed by North Halmahera regent Frans Manery and vice regent Muchlis Tapi Tapi. The preliminary hearing for case No. 18/PUU-XX/2022 took place virtually on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 in the plenary courtroom. The candidate pair argued that Article 201 paragraph (7) of the Pilkada Law goes against Article 28D paragraphs (1) and (3) of the 1945 Constitution.

At the hearing presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto and Constitutional Justices Wahiduddin Adams and Arief Hidayat, one of the Petitioners’ legal counsels, Ramli Antula, explained the background of the petition. The Petitioners should have been elected for a term of office of five years starting from their inauguration on July 9, 2021. This tenure, he said, should end by July 9, 2026, not in 2024 as referred to by Article 201 paragraph (7) of the Pilkada Law. Based on the provision, the Petitioners would only hold office for 3 years and 5 months.

“The enactment of the norm of Article 201 paragraph (7) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Election of Governors-Vice Governors, Regents-Vice Regents, and Mayors-Deputy Mayors for 2020, who hold office until 2024, [a norm] that regulates the end of the tenure of regents and vice regents elected in the 2020 Election, has factually and potentially, according to logical reasoning, reduced the Petitioners’ tenure as regent and vice regent based on Article 162 paragraph (2) of Law No. 10 of 2016 and Article 60 of Law No. 23 of 2014,” Antula said.

The Petitioners believe Article 201 paragraph (7) is inconsistent with Article 162 paragraph (2) of the Pilkada Law, leading to overlap of norms regulating term of office.

“With the annulment or the elimination of the interpretation of Article 201 paragraph (7) of Law No. 10 of 2016 in relation to the term of office of regents and vice regents following Article 162 paragraph (2) of Law No. 10 of 2016 and Article 60 of Law No. 23 of 2014, the potential impairment of the Petitioners’ constitutional rights may be avoided,” Antula said virtually.

Not Regulated Rigidly

Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat said in his advice that the provision on an election every five year as referred to in Article 18 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution applies for the election of Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) members, not for regional head members such as regents-vice regents and mayors-deputy mayors.

“So, those with a 5-year tenure that is regulated strictly in the 1945 Constitution is the DPRD [in] Article 18 paragraph (3). Meanwhile, the term of office of regents, mayors, governors, vice governors is not rigidly regulated for 5 years in the 1945 Constitution. The term of office is regulated in the law. Now, this law has been changed. In a normal situation, the term of office is five years, [it is regulated] in Article 161 paragraph (3) of the Election Law. However, due to the simultaneous election, there is a special provision. The terms of office were not set at 5 years, but will all end simultaneously in 2024 during the simultaneous election,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams advised the Petitioners to revise the norm petitioned for review, as it is a Transitional Provision, so as to avoid the possibility of legal vacuum. Then, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto commented on the Petitioners’ legal standing as taxpayers. As it relates to the State Finance Law, he requested that they study other decisions with similar arguments so that they would not misquote the Court’s decisions in relation to constitutional impairment.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/9/2022 09:51 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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