The judicial review hearing of Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties for case No. 44/PUU-XX/2022 filed by E. Ramos Petege and others, Monday (4/18/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

---

Monday, April 18, 2022 | 17:07 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—A provision on the requirements for the recruitment of political party members in Article 29 of Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties (Party Law) was challenged materially in the Constitutional Court (MK). The case No. 44/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by E. Ramos Petege and others. At the preliminary hearing on Monday, April 18, 2022, legal counsel Dixon Sanjaya said that Article 29 of the Party Law was detrimental to the Petitioners’ constitutional rights. The Petitioners reasoned that the general chairperson of the political party that received the most votes was the sole determinant in selecting the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Through Sanjaya, the Petitioners asserted that Article 29 of the Party Law did not require political parties to conduct selection, regeneration, and recruitment for presidential and vice presidential candidates, but instead leave them to the party’s statute/bylaw. Meanwhile, for the sake of democracy, a participatory and transparent mechanism for the selection and recruitment of presidential candidates is needed. Therefore, Sanjaya added, the Petitioners believe this could potentially endanger the national political system, especially in relation to the succession of the national leadership. In addition, they believe the recruitment and selection for presidential and vice presidential candidates within political parties was not transparent and instead prioritized sectoral interests.

“This is due to the a quo Law granting freedom to political parties to regulate recruitment only with the provision within the party’s statute/bylaw. So, the election system for presidential and vice-presidential candidates is ultimately only carried out by the political elite, especially the general chairperson of political parties,” he explained before Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Wahiduddin Adams and Enny Nurbaningsih.

In their petitum, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 29 of the Party Law uncconstitutional if not interpreted to mean “the candidates for president and vice president will be determined based on the results of the primaries.”

“Article 29 of the a quo Law is unconstitutional as long as it does not mean ‘the candidates for regional head and deputy regional head who are determined based on the results of the primaries’ apply mutatis mutandis to the Election Law and the Regional Head Election Law,” Sanjaya said.

Constitutional Impairment

Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams suggested that the Petitioners, especially Petitioner III, submit evidence as political party member. Petitioner IV was also requested to prove their legal standing as a political party sympathizer. “For this reason, it is necessary to prove and provide an argument about their legal standing in filing this case and experiencing losses from the enactment of this Law,” he explained.

Next, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih advised the Petitioners to provide a comprehensive argument regarding the perceived constitutional impairment due to the enactment of the a quo article.

Similarly, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto requested that the Petitioners describe the constitutional rights granted by the 1945 Constitution, which were then disregarded due to the a quo article.

“This needs to be re-elaborated so that the Court can understand that there are losses suffered by the Petitioners. So, do not only include the article, but also prove the constitutional arguments,” he said.

Justice Aswanto explained that the Petitioners had 14 workdays to revise the petition. However, he added, due to the Government’s collective leave days, the Court awaits for the revised petition until no later than Monday, May 9, 2022.

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

Translation uploaded on 4/19/2022 08:06 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.

---