Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto with Constitutional Justices Manahan M. P. Sitompul and Enny Nurbaningsih opening the petition revision hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, Monday (3/21/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

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Monday, March 21, 2022 | 14:57 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held another judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law) in the plenary courtroom on Monday, March 21, 2022. The case No. 13/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by several entrepreneurs and housewives, who assert that Article 222 of the Election Law is against Article 6 paragraph (2) and Article 6A paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution.

At this second hearing, counsel Syafril Sjofyan conveyed to Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Manahan M. P. Sitompul and Enny Nurbaningsih the revisions to the petition. They included an addition to the Court’s jurisdiction in the a quo case, additional explanation of the Petitioners’ legal standing, the replacement of the latest procedural law following the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 2 of 2021, and the addition of different arguments than those presented before the Court in the past.

“So, we include an argument on the Constitutional Court Decision No. 66/PUU-XIX/2021 and thus replaced all the arguments conveyed at the [preliminary hearing] and [we] no longer [contrast] Article 6 paragraph (2) and Article 6A paragraph (2) but directly with the 1945 Constitution,” Syafril said virtually before the Court, alongside Petitioners Endang Wiryaningsih, Tito Roesbandi, Elyan Verna Hakim, Ida Farida, Neneng Khodijah, and Lukman Nulhakim.

Also read: Entrepreneurs and Housewives Challenge Presidential Threshold

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners argued that the provision of the article violated the constitutional rights of political parties in providing and selecting as many future leaders as possible. They believe that, conceptually, the normative construction of Article 6A paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution prioritizes two interests: the right to vote and the right to be elected. Thus, the provision of the article is correlated with the violation of the Petitioners’ constitutional rights in obtaining as many as possible choices in the 2024 presidential election of leaders who will administer the government. They also believe that political parties are only means for presidential and vice presidential candidates, while the main beneficiaries of the election are citizens, including the Petitioners.

The Petitioners also asserted that in the Constitutional Court Decision No. 74/PUU-XVIII/2020, four constitutional justices expressed a dissent. According to them, constitutional rights cannot be eliminated/reduced by regulations. Thus, the provision in Article 222 of the Election Law, which eliminate the constitutional rights of political parties participating in the election, is clearly contrary to Article 6A paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. Therefore, the article should be declared to not be legally binding.

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

Translation uploaded on 3/21/2022 15:34 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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