Herifuddin Daulay, a contract teacher from Dumai, Riau, petitioned Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital formally and materially, Wednesday (4/13/2022). Photo by Humas MK/BPE.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2022 | 14:42 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Herifuddin Daulay, a contract teacher from Dumai, Riau, petitioned Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital (IKN Law) to the Constitutional Court (MK). The preliminary hearing for case No. 40/PUU-XX/2022 took place on Wednesday, April 13, 2022 virtually from the plenary courtroom.

As an Indonesian citizen who has the right and ability to defend his country, the Petitioner would like to suggest the Minister of Defense to arm regional armies in the border and coastal areas in anticipation of the spread of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which could threaten the nation and state. Therefore, he believes he should petition the IKN Law formally and materially as it can endanger the nation and state and is unconstitutional.

“The IKN Law was approved at the [House] session on January 18, 2022 and was signed by the President on February 15, 2022. Since it has been enacted administratively, it can be petitioned,” the Petitioner said before the panel chaired by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat.

Petitioner’s Arguments

The Petitioner mainly argued that in the long run, the obscure factors driving the relocation of the state capital. He felt directly disadvantaged by the turmoil due to economic collapse as what occurred in 1965-1998.

If the Law is annulled, he argued, his impairment would no longer exist because there won’t be any issue in the public due to this Law. In order to come at the annulment of the IKN Law and the cancellation of the relocation, he asserted, the right to defend the country as a constitutional right enshrined in the 1945 Constitution can be enforced. This is what drove the Petitioner to petition the Law formally.

The Petitioner believes that the relocation of the state capital would be a gamble with unclear benefits for the people and the state, thus in violation of the 1945 Constitution, especially the Preamble. He believes the vast funding needed to relocate is better directed for producing outstanding leaders in education and economy.

Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioner, who appeared before the Court without any counsel, requested that the Court declare the formation of the IKN Law not meeting the lawmaking provisions and not legally binding.

Total Revision

Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih (panel member) advised the Petitioner to read the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 2 of 2021 on the procedural law for judicial review.

“If you petition [the law] formally, you’re [requesting that the Court review] whether the formation of Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital meeting the lawmaking procedure based on the 1945 Constitution and Law No. 12 of 2011 or not. Please note that,” she said after explaining that the material judicial review concerns the content of the law.

In addition, she asked the Petitioner to simplify the explanation on the Court’s authority and to mentioned the object of the petition, whether material or formal.

Then, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (panel member) asked about two of the Petitioner’s petitions registered in the Registrar’s Office dated March 22 (formal and material) and April 4 (formal).

“I’d only like to ask, do you intend to continue with the formal and material petition, or only formal?” he asked. The Petitioner insisted with the former.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat advised the Petitioner to observe the transcript of today’s hearing on the Court’s website for the revision at the next hearing. “Because I saw [you] did not take note of the panel’s inputs when there is much advice to note,” he said.

He even requested that the Petitioner revise the petition completely to meet the format as set in PMK No. 2 of 2021. Therefore, the justices gave him 14 workdays to revise the petition and submit it by April 26.

Writer        : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Fitri Yuliana
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 4/14/2022 15:05 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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